


As Much As Salt

by Anonymous



Series: Blood, Salt, and Sun [2]
Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, All the Dads, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Baby OC - Freeform, Dadpool, Gen, Irondad, Kidnapping, Kinda?, M/M, Minor Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, Minor Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Post Mpreg, because steve is dead not because of civil war shenanigans, big dad energy, literally just a baby, minor Natasha Romanov/Clint Barton/Bruce Banner, spiderdad, typical weapon X violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 68,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23511259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Sequel to Blood From Water, suggested to read that first - set three months after the end of Blood From WaterAfter months of stalking Peter and Wade, waiting for the arrival of their firstborn, Weapon X finally moves to attack.Realizing that Natasha's homestead is no longer safe for them, the new family sets back out into the desert, hoping to reach the safety of Osborn territory before Weapon X catches up to them.Of course, nothing is ever that straight-forward.
Relationships: Eleanor Camacho & Peter Parker & Wade Wilson, Eleanor Camacho & Wade Wilson, Miles Morales & Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson
Series: Blood, Salt, and Sun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691698
Comments: 45
Kudos: 85
Collections: Anonymous





	1. The Other Shoe Drops

**Author's Note:**

> CW: slight taphophobic/claustrophobic scenario toward the end, not graphic

Tony was white as a ghost. He didn’t seem to notice Peter as he plowed down the stairs and back into his room, shutting the door firmly behind him. Peter turned his head to watch him go, frowning. From his spot on Peter’s hip, Riley turned his head to follow the movement as well. He gave an incomprehensible little shriek of exclamation. 

“Mmm, I don’t think Nini wants to play right now,” Peter told the baby, hoisting him up a little higher.

He’d thought Tony was doing… better. He had been almost as much of a wreck as Peter was when they met. The stress of survival (and Riley’s impending arrival, and Tony’s sudden mobility issues after he’d been shot) hadn’t done Tony’s mental health any favors either. In the last few months since Riley was born, however, Peter had thought he’d seen an uptick in Tony’s mood. He was more relaxed, more open with his ideas for the new house, easier to joke with. He and Wade even seemed to be getting along better, and Peter thought he might be on the way to building real friendships with their hosts and, surprisingly, with the doctor. 

Peter climbed the stairs to the above ground living room, wondering what had sent Tony running. He didn’t know what he expected to find, but it wasn’t Strange looking positively stricken. The man sat stiffly on the couch, face drawn, staring into the air in front of him. His expression was remarkably similar to the one Tony had worn.

Peter watched him for a moment, debating whether to speak up. Riley made the decision for him, however, when he began running his mouth again. According to Strange it wasn’t meaningful speech yet - if they heard any ‘dada’s in there, they were probably coincidental - but the baby certainly seemed to love the sound of his own voice.  _ Much like his sire,  _ Peter thought wryly. 

Strange jerked out of his revery and turned to look at the pair. 

“Hey,” Peter said, trying and failing to sound casual. “Do you, uh, know what’s up with Tony? I just saw him run off to his room.”

Strange shook his head, but he looked troubled. Peter paused to draw the curtain closed before he settled in one of the chairs across from Strange. They still hadn’t discovered why Weapon X was watching them and they were all still vigilant about playing it safe as much as possible. Especially with a baby in the house.

“What happened?” Peter asked, re-positioning Riley in his arms. Riley continued his stream of nonsense. Strange shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 

“I don’t know,’ He said slowly. The older man was obviously reluctant to confide in Peter, but Peter was not above being a little pushy for the information he wanted and Strange knew it. Plus, if Peter’s guess was right, Strange had something of a crush on Peter’s surrogate father-figure and was eager to stay on Peter’s good side because of it. “We were talking and he asked about… my name.”

“Strange?” Peter tilted his head. “I mean it’s kind of an unusual name.”

“No, my first name.” The doctor said, folding and unfolding his scarred hands in front of him. Peter frowned. It had never occurred to him to ask, but he supposed the doctor must have a first name that wasn’t ‘Doctor’. 

“Well, what’s your name?” Peter prompted. Strange looked a little wary, but did not resist further.

“Stephen.” 

“Oooh,” Peter hissed sympathetically, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “Oh, yeah, ok, I get it.”

“What?”

Peter hesitated a moment. It wasn’t really his story to give away, but the doctor had done so much for him and Riley. It felt cruel to leave him wondering what had set Tony off when it wasn’t even the doctor’s fault. Not really. “His… Tony used to have a mate.”

“I know, I’ve seen the scar,” Strange--  _ Stephen _ said impatiently. 

“Yeah, well, his name was also Steven.” Peter said with a grim sort of false-smile. “I mean, I think it was Steven. He just said ‘Steve’ when I asked, but I can only assume it was short for Steven.”

“How was it spelled?”

“I don’t know, probably with a ‘V’ I guess?”

“Well, mine’s spelled with a ‘PH’,” Stephen said defensively. 

“Um, I dunno if the spelling really matters,” Peter hedged. “It’s still pronounced the same way.”

The doctor seemed to deflate, slumping back against the couch with a sigh. 

“It’s not your fault,” Peter said quickly.

“No,” Stephen agreed, not looking comforted in the least, “But I can’t change it either. If it had been something I said or did…”

Stephen sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t really apologize for my name.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to,” Peter said quickly. It was entirely true. Peter guessed that Tony would think it was hilarious to make Stephen stumble over apologies for something like that. But he wouldn’t feel like he  _ needed _ the apology. “I bet it just caught him by surprise.”

At that moment, the glass in the window nearest them, shattered.

Peter jumped in his seat, clutching Riley to his chest, which made the baby shriek with displeasure. Strange had done the opposite. He looked frozen in place. Peering at him to see if he was alright, Peter understood.

There was a bullet hole in the wall beside Strange’s head. Maybe three inches to the left and it would’ve been a hole in Strange’s skull.

Peter’s heart flipped in his chest. None of the hunters would ever be so careless. 

“Get up.” He demanded of Strange, tugging the older man up and away from the window. He seemed dazed, unable to process the sudden turn of events. He was only a doctor, after all. Peter didn’t imagine he’d been in too many fights. Still, he didn’t have the patience to usher Strange through the steps.

“Take Riley.” He said, foisting the baby into Strange's arms before he could protest and pushing him in the direction of the stairs. “Take him to Tony. Keep away from the windows.”

“What’s happening?” The doctor asked, blinking. Peter smiled at him grimly. He wouldn’t normally leave Riley behind, but he’d be safe with Tony, and Wade had  _ promised _ him. He’d promised that after Riley was born, Peter could hand the baby to someone else and join the fight. This one had been too long coming and Peter was ready to defend his pack this time.

“The other shoe finally dropped.”

—-

There was a pounding at Tony’s door.

“Not right now, Peter,” Tony called, trying not to sound irritated. He was pretty sure Peter was the only person who’d be knocking down his door after his little meltdown. He was the only one who knew enough about Tony to understand what had triggered him. Tony felt a little guilty shutting Peter out, but he didn’t think he could pull himself together enough to be kind to the kid right now.

“Open this door, Tony.”

Tony jerked in his seat. That was  _ not  _ Peter. For a moment Tony thought about ignoring the persistent knocking. He didn’t want to talk to Stephen right now either.

“Tony!”

Tony jumped to his feet, moving to the door without thinking. Stephen didn’t sound angry. He sounded nervous - or as nervous as Tony had ever heard him. 

Tony wrenched open the door to find Stephen with one hand raised to knock again and the other balancing Riley on his hip. His face was almost always grim, but his brow seemed particularly furrowed at the moment.

“Ste—- why do you have Riley?” Tony frowned, blinking hard. The doctor kept his interactions with the baby almost entirely professional. Tony didn’t know if it was because he didn’t like children or if there was some underlying issue there, but it was probably the first time Tony had seen Riley without one of his parents hovering nearby. Tony narrowed his eyes. “Where’s Peter?”

“He left. To help Wade.” Stephen said stiffly, still radiating discomfort. On his hip Riley began to whine in the way that meant he was working himself up to tears. Strange looked positively horrified.

“Just give me the baby,” Tony said sharply. Stephen was all too glad to pass Riley off to his pseudo-grandfather and Tony scooped the baby up easily and held him against his chest. He still whined, but he was more familiar with Tony’s scent than Stephen’s and that seemed to hold him for now.

“We need to get further back- maybe out of here entirely if we can,” Stephen said quickly, suddenly restored to full efficiency without the baby weighing on his hip. Stephen answered the question before Tony could even ask. “It’s Weapon X.”

Tony was suddenly glad to be holding Riley. He didn’t know exactly what he might have done if he hadn’t had the little pup to ground him. Fear rippled through him, clenching his jaw and tightening his hold on Riley. And there, beside the fear, was just a little bit of relief. 

They’d known Weapon X had been watching them. They’d been watching since before Riley was born - since he and Peter and Wade had all arrived at Natasha’s in the first place. It had been a source of confusion and anxiety for all of them to know that they were being watched. It hadn’t mattered how many agents they’d taken out; Weapon X always sent someone to replace them, but they hadn’t attacked them. Until now. 

A muffled boom sounded from somewhere above them and Tony snapped to his senses. He wanted to fight. He wanted to help.  _ Peter _ was up there, damn it, and everyone else. But he understood. His leg had never healed right, even in the months since he’d been shot, and someone had to stay with Riley. 

And Stephen, now that Tony thought of it. The doctor must have  _ some _ self-defense training to have lived long enough to have gray hairs, but Tony didn’t think it was much. Whatever else Tony felt about Stephen right now, there was no doubt in his mind that he owed the doctor. The man had seen Peter and Riley through the baby’s tumultuous arrival; Tony wouldn’t let the doctor die now. 

He grabbed Stephen roughly by the arm, pulling him out into the hallway as he made for the newest tunnel. 

They had all been idly working on a new house for the freshly minted parents, but it was hardly finished. The frame was up but not much else, except for this - the tunnel to connect the new house to Natasha’s. If Weapon X was here (and from the continued sounds of distant gunfire and shouting, they certainly were) then Tony needed to get Riley and Stephen as far away from the fighting as possible. No matter how much it rankled him to be running away from the fray. 

It took less than a handful of seconds to reach the end of the tunnel and the trap door to the unfinished house. 

Tony lifted the door as little as possible while he peered out. He was only really able to see the unfinished walls, but he was afforded a tiny sliver of the front doorway (sans any actual door) as well.

“Shit.”

Tony ducked down again, gritting his teeth. The fighting wasn’t as thick here, but he could see one of Weapon X’s trucks through the tiny gap. It wasn’t enough to tell if the truck was occupied or not, or if the truck was in plain view of anyone else. If it had just been him, he might have risked it. A vehicle was practically invaluable and would get him away from the danger more quickly than he could ever dream of running on foot. But he couldn’t do it with a baby. Even the slim chance of a stray bullet was too high. 

He turned to see Stephen hovering close behind him, still as grim-faced as ever. Tony ran his free hand through his hair, ignoring Riley as the baby shoved the collar of Tony’s shirt into his little mouth and began to drool all over him. 

He hated this. He  _ hated _ not being able to see what was going on. It reminded him too much of the narrow miss when he and Peter had found Wade again. He’d been stuck staring at the dirt then too, relying on sound alone to guess if Peter was ok, if he’d escaped (he hadn’t, but it had been Wade who caught him, so it was alright in the end). 

“What do you see?” Stephen asked, whispering even though there was little chance anyone would hear them over the commotion.

“Not fucking much.” Tony spat before trying to reel in his temper. This wasn’t Stephen’s fault.

Whatever Tony’s next words might have been, they were swallowed by a sudden awful boom. The sound was so loud and so near that Tony swore he could feel his teeth rattle in his head. Riley squirmed in his arms, screaming at how loud it must have been on his little ears, his wailing adding to the sudden cacophony of sound. Tony locked eyes with Stephen.

And then came the crack, like a firecracker had gone off too close to his ear, and the ground trembled. 

Tony realized what was coming an instant before Stephen did. There were only two choices now and Tony hated both of them, but he knew he had only seconds to decide.

So he chose.

Tony shoved Riley roughly into Stephen’ arms and then seized the man’s shoulders. Stephen seemed so startled by the sudden movement that he went down easily, sitting down hard on the packed earth. Tony braced his hands on the wall above Stephen’s head and curled his body over the pair just as the first cracks in the stone began to appear.

“Tony-“ Stephen started to say, but the rest of the words were swallowed by the awful crash of rock against rock. Dust and pebbles rained into Tony’s hair.

“Don’t let it hit Riley!” He shouted, over and over until Stephen bent low over the baby, shielding him entirely though Riley continued to cry. 

Tony braced himself hard as the first chunks of stone pelted his shoulders and back, squeezing his eyes shut against the dust. Even as the jagged rock tore at his clothes and skin, Tony thought he’d made the right choice.

The tunnel was coming down, whether they were in it or not. If they had been able to get out in time (and between Tony’s bad leg and juggling the baby, Tony wasn’t sure they would have), they would have been forced into open gunfire. Tony would risk the stones, which would only kill them accidentally, over the armed men who would undoubtedly go out of their way to do it on purpose.

And then it was so loud that Tony couldn’t even hear Riley crying over the din. They plunged into darkness, but before Tony had the chance to panic, a chunk of stone struck him in the head and the scene blinked out of existence.

—

When Tony next opened his eyes, it was blessedly quiet. Not silent. No, little pebbles still clacked as they fell into place and Riley whimpered pitifully from somewhere beneath him and Tony could hear his own heavy breathing. 

As if sensing that Tony was now awake enough to feel it, pain came rushing back to him. His back and shoulders ached fiercely and he could tell from the hot prickling along them that the rocks had broken the skin in at least a few places. The worst was his head. ‘Ache’ did not quite cover the awful pounding in his skull. His neck was wet and sticky and the place where he’d been struck felt like it was burning. His hands were a mess of scrapes too, but they’d fallen off their place on the wall and now dangled in front of him. Tony squinted in the near pitch black, trying to figure out how he was still upright if he wasn’t bracing himself against the wall. There was something pressing up against his chest, keeping him from falling forward completely. It pressed so hard it ached.

Below him, someone grunted. Tony gave a low groan in response.

“Tony?”

“Mmm,” Tony agreed, lifting his hands to take his weight off Stephen. At least, he was pretty sure it was Stephen who had been holding him up. Tony shut his eyes again, even though he could hardly see anything in the first place.

“R’ley?” Tony mumbled.

“He’s ok. I think the dust was the worst that hit him, but I’m sure it irritated his eyes and he probably breathed some of it in while he was crying.” Stephen said in a rush. Tony paused while the words slowly coalesced into something he could understand.

“‘S good,” Tony said after a moment. “How long…?”

“Twenty two seconds,” Stephen answered without Tony having to finish the question. Tony didn’t think that twenty seconds was a long time to be out, but Stephen’s tone suggested otherwise. A thought made Tony smirk.

“Heh, you w’re worried ‘bout me,” He slurred. For some reason it seemed hilarious to think of.

“ _ Yes. _ ” Stephen said again in that same tight quick voice and it was somehow a little less funny after that. 

“M’okay,” Tony told him, even though he didn’t feel particularly okay. Besides the general feeling of being pounded to a pulp, Tony couldn’t shake the awful throbbing in his head. There was barely any light in their little bubble under the rubble, but it still felt so bright that it made Tony’s stomach churn. Closing his eyes didn’t help much, however. Without being able to see for himself which way was up, Tony felt like the little room was in danger of rolling over like a ball. Tony swallowed and tried breathing through his mouth. The last thing they needed was for him to throw up over all of them.

In his quest to settle his stomach, Tony fell silent again. It felt like it had only been a few seconds before Stephen was calling his name again sharply.

“Wha?” He asked grouchily.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Stephen commanded him.

“Wasn’ asleep.”

“It’s dark in here, I can’t see that.” If it wouldn’t hurt his head more to do so, Tony might have rolled his eyes. “Talk to me, so I know you’re still awake.”

“Bout what?”

“It doesn’t matter. Anything.”

Tony paused again, long enough that he could tell Stephen was getting antsy, while he tried to think of something to say.

“‘M sorry abou’ this morning,” he said finally. It wasn’t Stephen’s fault, of course, that he had the name he did, but it had been too much for Tony to handle in the moment.

“It’s ok.” Stephen said quickly. Tony was almost certain Stephen was just saying that to humor him, but he didn’t really care. “Peter explained it to me. A little.”

Tony scowled at the darkness.

“Wha’d he say?” Tony asked suspiciously. 

“Just that you used to have a mate. With almost the same name as me.” Stephen said. “That’s all, really.”

They were quiet again a moment while Tony stewed on the fact that Peter had told Stephen something so personal about him, even if it wasn’t a secret.

“Mine’s with a ‘ph’ by the way,” Stephen blurted out.

“Mm?”

“The way my name is spelled. It’s with a ‘ph’ so it’s not  _ exactly _ the same. I think. If that helps.”

Stephen sounded so nervous that Tony almost wanted to laugh. He bit it back in favor of teasing the man.

“Ph’Stephen?” He asked, feigning ignorance. “Stephen’ph?”

He could practically hear Stephen rolling his eyes. 

“How come it’s not pronounced ‘Stef-en’ then, instead of ‘Steev-in’?” Tony asked again.

“The same reason they decided ‘Strange’ was an acceptable last name, I suppose,” Stephen shook his head. “You’d have to ask my parents.”

They lapsed into silence for a few seconds before Stephen spoke again.

“I  _ am _ sorry. About your mate.”

“Me too.” Tony said quietly. 

“I want to ask about him, but you don’t have to explain.” Stephen said and Tony was a little surprised by this, not because he didn’t think Stephen was interested, but because he hadn’t expected him to admit it. It seemed oddly vulnerable for some reason.

Tony considered. He didn’t owe Stephen any more explanation than he’d already given. If anything, Tony suspected they were even now: Tony had obviously just saved his life, so that had to count as something against the debt he owed Stephen for saving Peter and Riley during the birth. Somehow being even made it easier to tell him though.

So Tony explained. It was only the second time he’d ever told the story of Steve’s death. The first had been when he and Peter were stranded in the desert and Tony was convinced they were dying. Now Tony still had a fair amount of hope that their companions would dig them out, but the peril was still very real. Maybe it was this, that closeness to death and the dead, that made it easier to talk about Steve.

Stephen listened intently without interruption as Tony explained Steve’s enormous heart and his stubborn head and his determination to save the world. He listened while Tony detailed the plan they had discovered, of a powerful gang’s ambition to wipe the area clean and start afresh from the ashes. He listened while Tony finally explained how Steve had stopped them, his sacrifice, and ultimately, his death. 

It took a long time to tell. Tony’s mouth still felt disconnected from his brain, the words slurring and stuttering, but it was easier to tell the story the second time around.

“A’ least ‘s one less gang t’ worry ‘bout,” Tony said finally as he finished.

“It wasn’t Weapon X?” Stephen asked, surprised.

“Nah,” Tony thought he’d said as much, but he must have forgotten. “Differen’ one. They got a big skull with, uh, a, uh- shit.”

He struggled for a moment to recall the words. “A skull with oct’pus legs. Fuckin’ stupid. Stupid name too. Was… dragon. No. Fuck. I  _ know _ it. Sounds like water.”

Tony knew the word in his mind but couldn’t seem to make his mouth say it. Beneath him, Strange had gone very still.

“Hydra,” He said softly, without a hint of a question.

“Yeah. At leas’ don’t have t’worry ‘bout  _ Hydra _ too.”

“Tony…” Now Stephen did sound hesitant. “When— was this?”

And, ugh, numbers were hard right now. Tony blinked hard before he answered. “Four? Years. I think.”

Stephen breathed out slowly, but loudly. Something about it made Tony’s stomach clench. 

“What is it?” He asked. He could  _ hear _ Stephen swallow.

“I used to be a surgeon, you know,” he said.

“I know. Bruce tol’ me.”

“Did he tell you why I stopped?” Tony started to shake his head but it made his skull throb and the room spin, so he stopped. Stephen must have picked up on some of it though because he continued.

“I worked for anyone.” He told Tony lightly, before he discarded the tone and fell into his typical abrasive one. “ _ Anyone _ . As long as they could pay. And if they couldn’t pay I wouldn’t work. I thought I was being smart that way.”

“But usually the people who could pay were… Well, they were slum lords and tax sharks and big gangs. They could pay me, but the reason why was never pretty. I didn’t see a problem with it. I was… Tony, I wasn’t a good person. I’m  _ not  _ a good person.”

Tony made a sound to disagree but Stephen talked over him.

“I have  _ moments _ of  _ doing _ good, but it’s not what I  _ am.  _ And that’s not the point of this, so don’t say anything. Because I still healed people up even when they were slavers, or traffickers, or killers. I made sure they were well enough to keep on doing it. I knew what they did and it still wasn’t enough to make me stop.”

“I only stopped when I saw…” Strange paused, trying to think of how to explain. “Have you seen Natasha’s scars?”

“Mm hmm,” Tony admitted. At least, he’d seen the awful one across her abdomen. He didn’t know if there were more.

“I saw the program she was in. She had already graduated by then, there was nothing I could do for her, I barely even saw her, but the other ones… They wanted me to be a part of it. That was the first time I told them no. It should have been sooner. It should have been a  _ lot _ sooner. But it wasn’t.”

“You have to understand, Tony, I was in  _ deep. _ They were my only clients by then, I wasn’t taking anyone else, and I’d been there a long time. I was so  _ rich.” _ Stephen said the word like it was something filthy and Tony actually understood. It sounded a lot like what had driven him to leave his father’s house, all those years ago.

“So, I said I wouldn’t do it, and they said, are you sure, and I said I was and I was leaving, which was stupid, I was in so deep, I couldn’t just  _ leave _ like that, I knew they wouldn’t let me. But they said they’d let me go if I never practiced medicine again and I said I wouldn’t and they said that my word alone wasn’t good enough.” Tony could hear Stephen lifting his hands in front of him, even though he couldn’t see it. His scarred,  _ scarred  _ hands.

“So they made  _ sure _ I wouldn’t.” Stephen finished simply. Or, at least, Tony thought he had finished.

“Stephen…”

“No,” Stephen snapped. “I deserved it and it wasn’t the point of telling you. The point was that the gang that did it, the gang I  _ served _ was Hydra.”

Tony couldn’t even make himself react. It just didn’t compute. It was like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole, the two notions were just incompatible.

“No, it wasn’t,” Tony said without conviction.

“It  _ was _ ,” Stephen told him fiercely. “And they were still standing when I left, and that was  _ less  _ than four years ago.”

“What are you saying?” Tony asked hollowly, his mind too sluggish and unwilling to piece it together himself.

“I’m saying that Hydra isn’t gone.”


	2. Never Say Goodbye (reprise)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NO CHARACTER DEATH
> 
> sometimes life just tugs you in different directions (without killing anyone)

“Stop!  _ Stop!”  _

Natasha all but tackled Wade to keep him from the rubble. Peter screamed, something high and wordless and launched himself at her only for Clint to catch him around the waist and hold him. 

Peter writhed in his grip, still screaming, but he couldn’t think straight enough to remember anything Natasha had taught him about escaping from such a hold. All he could do was squirm and scream as Natasha fought to keep Wade away from the ruins of the house. 

“Wade, stop!” Natasha demanded.

Finally she had him flat on his stomach, arms twisted up behind his back while the Alpha continued to howl. 

“We are  _ going _ to find your cub, just  _ stop. _ ” She shouted. “If you go digging around without thinking you could make something cave in on them and kill them. Do you want that? Do you?”

Natasha yanked at his arms to make her point. Wade  _ howled _ and then, with great effort, forced himself to go still. Peter tried to let Natasha’s words sink in as well, but it felt almost impossible. His baby, their little Riley, was  _ down there _ somewhere. How could going slow possibly help anyone? He wanted them out of there  _ now. _

Peter couldn’t remember if he’d ever been so scared in his life. It was something that pushed even past fear and into the very beginning of insanity. If something  _ had  _ happened to Riley, Peter didn’t know if he’d ever be able to come back from it. Even the thought of losing Wade hadn't been this bad.  


Clint slowly released him and Peter darted to Wade in the blink of an eye. Natasha turned on him, ready to restrain him again, but let him be when she saw that he was only there for Wade. Peter pulled Wade upright, his grip on his mate’s arm so tight that he was sure it would bruise. But Wade’s grip was just as firm on him in return. Good. Peter thought he might fly into another panic if he didn’t have something to focus on. 

“ _ Pup-” _ the word seemed to squeeze itself out of Wade’s throat painfully. And Peter answered with a sound that was not quite a purr and not quite a growl but came from a place deep in his throat. Agreement. 

The fight had been hard, but not as hard as it should have been. If he were thinking about it logically, Peter probably would have believed that the destruction of the house really was accidental. The agents had been throwing grenades into the house in a steady stream, but they’d only seemed to billow black smoke and an acrid stench. If he'd been thinking clearly, Peter would have recognized this as an attempt to smoke out anyone still hiding inside, not to destroy anything. When the explosion had shaken the ground - when the house had begun to collapse into itself- the leader of the Weapon X team had been furious. He’d executed the man who’d done it even before Peter or Wade had the chance to move on him. 

Peter guessed that this was why they had all come out relatively unscathed: regardless of whether or not he'd intended to, the captain had sabotaged the mission the moment he’d turned on one of his own men. It gave them the opening they’d needed to gain the upper hand. 

Now they were scraped and bruised and grazed and dirtied, but overall unharmed. Clint seemed to have gotten the worst of it. He’d been the closest to the house when it had been blown up, and the resulting explosion had been so loud that blood trickled from one of his ears. Luckily, the ear had been deaf to begin with, so it didn’t seem like a catastrophic loss. 

And Peter had finally learned why Clint and Natasha placed such unwavering faith in Bruce’s ability to defend himself  _ and _ the rest of them. Peter had never seen anything like it. It was as if Bruce had turned feral at the flip of a switch. Peter didn’t know how else to explain it. He was faster, stronger, and more vicious than anything Peter had ever seen, except maybe Wade, before Wade had been able to shake off  _ Deadpool _ . Peter couldn’t confirm it, but Bruce's senses seemed heightened. He reacted to things before the rest of them had even noticed them, making him seem inhumanely fast. There was no doubt in Peter’s mind that Bruce was the reason they had won and won so cleanly. 

Peter could still smell him too. It was a very strange smell, like a heat was about to hit him, but without the smell slick sweet need threaded through it. If Tony and his cub hadn’t been somewhere under that rubble, Peter would have been fascinated to learn about whatever hormonal nonsense let Bruce do  _ that. _

But they  _ were _ still buried.

Peter dug his nails into the palm of his hand.  _ If one of the three had to die, let it be Strange, please, let it be Strange, not Tony, not his baby, not Riley-- _ He was too scared even to feel guilty for the thought. 

The five of them circled the rubble. Unable to dive into the mess himself, Peter couldn’t help but call into it instead. 

“Tony! Riley! Stephen!” Over and over. Wade joined him and soon Peter’s voice was hoarse and his stomach was in knots. He couldn’t smell a thing but the dust and the burnt bits from the explosion and he hadn’t heard anything back from the rubble, no hint that any of them were still alive. 

“Shh,” Clint called to them, pointing toward Bruce. The Omega was still deep in his half-feral state, and he strode purposefully toward the far end of the destruction, where most of the second empty house still stood. Peter’s heart leaped. Maybe there was something Bruce could hear or smell that the rest of them couldn’t. 

Peter ran after him, following as Bruce wandered inside the shell of the unfinished house. Three walls still stood, but the fourth, which had stood on top of the tunnel connecting this house to Natasha’s, had collapsed, as had the exit of the tunnel. 

And then Peter heard it. 

He fell to his knees at the edge of the debris, barely even noticing Wade appearing beside him. The relief was so strong, Peter felt as though he couldn’t breath. He didn’t dare speak in case he drowned out the sound and found that he had made it up. The crying. The pitiful wails of a baby. A crying baby was a  _ live _ baby. 

And then Natasha and Clint were there calling down between the rocks and someone was calling back and Natasha was carefully instructing Bruce and Clint how to move the chunks of stone away. It was only a tiny pocket. All three of the missing family members were wedged together under a forgiving slab that had fallen propped up to keep them from being crushed. All Peter could see was the top of a dark head of hair. Gray-streaked. The doctor. 

He and Wade were shouting over each other in their desperation. Strange didn’t fight them and was eager to hand the baby up first, but it still felt like an eternity before Natasha finally handed them the squalling bundle of Riley. 

And then they were on the ground, he and Wade curled around the baby so that he wasn’t even visible to anyone but them, stroking his head, his little hands, cooing and crying and cradling. Peter felt like his heart might burst in his chest at the relief of Riley whole and unharmed (save a few little scrapes on his arms and legs) and the fear still had yet to release its grip on him. He’d been  _ buried.  _ Their pup, their baby, he’d been down there under all that rock, sealed up in the dark without them. 

The only comfort besides having Riley back in their arms was the knowledge that Wade was just as much of an incomprehensible mess as he was - maybe more. It meant Peter wasn’t a fool for getting so worked up, that he was validated in his crying just as hard as Riley while they held him and wiped the dust from his face. 

\---

While Riley had been extracted quickly, getting the two adults out was a much more complicated process. They had taken a beating from the rocks while shielding the baby, and had been cramped for hours, making limbs uncoordinated and uncooperative. Besides that, Stephen shouted at them every time they tried to move Tony too suddenly. It took some time for them to calm the doctor long enough for him to explain the head injury and his fears that there could be a neck injury besides. Tony, for his part, did his best to obey instruction, but offered no help of his own. He kept asking where Riley had gone every few minutes and had to be reassured that the cub was safely reunited with his parents before he would cooperate again. 

It probably didn’t make it any easier that Peter and Wade were essentially useless. Neither parent could bear letting Riley out of their sight long enough to be helpful. Slowly, painstakingly, however, Stephen and Tony were extracted from the rubble. 

Weapon X had struck in the morning, so it was only mid-afternoon by the time it had all finished and all eight of them were lying in the shell of the second house. 

Now that he had the light to get a better look at Tony’s head wound, Stephen seemed much calmer. It had bled quite a bit, but the doctor claimed that head wounds just _did that_ and that the actual cut wouldn’t even need stitches, though they were all under strict orders to keep Tony from doing almost anything. Apparently any sort of exertion was off-limits for now, even just concentrating too hard. For his part, Tony seemed too exhausted to protest much.

In fact, they were all exhausted. As soon as he discarded his feral senses, Bruce almost immediately fell asleep right there on the ground beside Tony. Strange was relatively unscathed, since Tony had taken the brunt of the stone, but he’d gotten a decent beating of his own and fear had obviously drained him. It had certainly drained Peter and Wade. They settled on Tony’s other side, Peter with his back against Tony’s arm and Wade facing him with Riley cradled between them. 

Only Bruce and Riley were allowed to sleep without a second thought, however: Bruce because he probably couldn’t have stayed awake if he tried, and Riley because he was three months old and could barely even lift his head on his own, let alone help sift through rubble. Clint and Natasha took the job of investigating the rest of the debris that used to be their house: hopefully they could salvage some things, but at the very least, they could make sure that everything Weapon X had thrown at them had actually detonated. The last thing they needed was to be walking through a minefield as well. 

The rest of them - Stephen, Tony, Peter, and Wade - would take turns dozing, just so they were never left without a look-out. It wouldn’t help them much if Weapon X did return: they were in no condition to flee and were already ragged from the morning’s fight, but it would at least give them some warning.

\--

Tony woke Peter for his turn some time later. Clint and Natasha hadn’t returned yet and the sun was still out, so it must not have been long.

Wade stirred when Riley began to fuss, but Peter scooped the baby up before he had the chance to cry. He carefully slipped his shirt over his head to feed him. Poor little pup. It had been a long day and it wasn’t even over. In fact, Peter was hungry too. He hoped Clint and Natasha were able to salvage some  _ food _ from the wreckage. Peter couldn’t afford to starve before Riley was weaned.

Now that the worst of the danger had passed, Peter gave himself a moment to mourn the home they had just lost. True, he and Wade and Tony hadn’t been there for very long. Less than a year, really. Only eight or so months. But it had been a home. Peter hadn’t felt so safe since he and Wade had left May’s house when he was seventeen and even then, those last days had been dangerous in their own right.

Peter didn’t know what they would do next. Maybe Natasha would try to rebuild, but Peter wasn’t sure if he and Wade should stay to see it. This was their fault in a way. Weapon X had been targeting Wade - maybe even Tony and Riley too. If they hadn’t been there, then Weapon X never would have followed them and Clint and Natasha and Bruce would still have their home. Peter tried not to feel too guilty. After all,  _ they  _ hadn’t been the ones to blow up the house. 

Still, he and Wade couldn’t stay. They’d just be putting everyone in danger. And Weapon X would certainly be back. Peter didn’t think they’d ever give up on getting Wade back.

His heart dropped at the thought.

“They’re never going to stop,” he whispered to no one in particular. Beside him, Tony rolled over. He must not have fallen back asleep yet.

“Whassat?” He asked groggily.

“Nothing,” Peter said quickly, but Tony was propping himself up on an elbow now.

“Nah, you smell upset. What’s up?” Tony asked properly, keeping his voice low to keep from waking the others. Peter sighed.

“They’re never going to stop,” he said again, glancing down at Riley. The baby looked up at him without pausing his nursing in the slightest. Fuck. They couldn’t move fast if they were carrying a baby, and what if they caught Riley too? The idea of Weapon X getting their hands on him was enough to turn Peter’s stomach.

“They’re never going to stop!” Peter’s voice was higher now as the realization began to take hold. “They want Wade too badly to ever stop looking for him, they’re going to keep looking for us anywhere we go until one of us is- is--!”

Tony sat up, scooting closer and putting a hand on his back. Even through the panic rising in his throat, Peter felt guilty. Tony was injured. He should be resting, not comforting him. But he couldn’t turn away from the comfort. Tony had always had solutions, he’d always taken care of Peter, maybe this time he’d have the answers too.

“There’s gotta be somewhere they can’t find you guys,” Tony said with as much confidence as he could muster. Peter shook his head. He couldn’t think of anywhere, and even if he could, they would be moving so slowly. Surely they would be easy to follow.

“We could try bringing them down,” Tony offered dubiously, but Peter knew he was only saying it for the sake of saying it. Even with Wade’s apparent immortality and Natasha’s training and Bruce’s  _ condition _ , Weapon X had cars and guns and men to spare. They had at least two bases they knew of and the technology to make Wade  _ effectively  _ immortal. They could never win in a fight.

“What about your aunt?” Tony asked. “She’d give you guys shelter for sure.”

She would, Peter knew it, but at what cost? If Weapon X followed them there, if May got hurt because of it, Peter would never forgive himself. Peter’s heart ached. He missed May more than he was willing to admit. He missed her  _ advice.  _ Sure, she’d never had a baby, but she’d raised Peter alright. He was certain she’d be good with Riley too. And that was a whole other heartbreak, that May hadn’t met his baby, that Riley might never know her.

And more than just May, Peter missed his friends. Living here with everyone was the closest they’d come to having a community since they left. He missed MJ and Ned and… 

“Harry,” Peter breathed.

“Who?”

“My friend Harry Osborn,” Peter said breathlessly, “he might be able to help.”

True, Norman probably still had it out for him, but Peter would rather face Norman than Weapon X any day. Besides, maybe if they were careful, they could get Harry’s help without Norman ever knowing. Harry was very rich. He had the means to protect them, or at the very least  _ hide _ them.

“ _ Osborn? _ ” Tony exclaimed in surprise. “As in  _ Osborn _ -Osborn?”

“I think? I mean, they were our tax lords.” Peter said. And that was something he certainly did  _ not _ miss about home: the constant fear of producing enough to pay off the families ‘protecting’ them while still having enough to eat afterwards. Especially after Ben had died, there were quite a few times he and May  _ hadn’t  _ made enough. If Peter hadn’t been such close friends with Harry, if Harry hadn’t smuggled them rations, they would have been in big trouble. Luckily it got easier after Wade came along and there was another set of hands to help them, but Peter still resented the tax.

“You’re friends with Harry Osborn?” Tony still sounded mystified.

“He was almost my mate,” Peter admitted. Of course, it was more complicated than that, but it went to show how close they’d been. Tony let out a hoarse bark of laughter.

“You must  _ really _ love Wade to turn that kind of money down,” he said, only half sounding like he was teasing. Peter swatted at Tony with a free arm.

“Shut up. You know I do.” He grumbled. Just then Riley began to fuss, apparently finished with his meal. Peter handed him off to Tony so he could rearrange his shirt properly again. “Here. Burp duty for Nini.”

Tony dutifully took the baby and held him to his shoulder, patting his back softly while he continued to fuss. He wasn’t crying yet though, so Peter wasn’t too worried.

“I can’t believe you’re friends with Harry Osborn,” Tony said with a shake of his head. Peter scrunched his nose at Tony.

“It’s not  _ that _ weird. Jeez. Why, were they your tax lords too?” Peter didn’t think so. Tony had said he lived some fifty or so miles from May’s place, so it was probably outside of Osborn territory, but Peter supposed it was possible. Tony laughed.

“Uh,  _ no. _ ” Tony said flatly. He started to bounce Riley idly while he hemmed and hawed. “Oh man, I can’t believe we never talked about this. Hey, what’s your last name?”

“Um, Parker,” Peter blinked, confused by the sudden topic jump. “Or, I guess I could have ‘Wilson’ if I want, but I don’t want anything in common with Wade’s dad. Why, what’s yours?”

Tony gave him a positively shit eating grin.

“Stark.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“Yup.” Tony smacked his lips. 

Peter suddenly felt light headed. He knew about the Starks, of course. Their territory abutted the Osborn’s and they were  _ very _ powerful. People flocked to their territory because the Starks had supposedly worked out some sort of sustainable energy that would keep them going even after the gasoline ran out for good. In fact, Peter’s parents had lived there for a few years before Peter was born, working on just that sort of project. 

They’d moved back when they heard that Peter’s grandparents - Ben’s parents - were dying and stayed because they’d had Peter not long after, but they’d spoken of their time in Stark territory fondly. At least, that’s what Ben had said; Peter didn’t remember any of it himself. There had been a time when Peter had dreamed of moving there and continuing his parents’ work, but that was years ago. Before Ben died. Before everything with Harry and Norman. 

“Oh my god,” Peter said softly. He used to daydream about dazzling the Starks with some invention when he was a kid. And he’d been traveling with one for a  _ year _ now. A Stark was burping his baby and letting himself be called ‘Nini’ because ‘grandpa’ sounded too old and it was easier to say than ‘Tony.’ Peter couldn’t think of anything to do but laugh. He was too embarrassed to say anything else.

“Do you really think we could make it that far?” Peter asked after a moment. “Do you think we could make it back to Harry before they caught up to us?”

Tony rubbed his chin while he considered this. He sighed heavily, but at least his expression was wry rather than hopeless.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But look at it this way: if you stay here, they’ll  _ definitely  _ catch up. I don’t think they are gonna leave something like this up to chance, not after so many months of planning. I’m not even sure if all this was the main event. It might have just been to smoke us out of the house, if you ask me.”

Peter couldn’t help his heart sinking at the idea, but it made sense. There had only been about a dozen men, spread out between three cars. Peter had never really interacted with them personally, but he got the sense from Tony and Wade that Weapon X was much bigger than that. Tony grimaced at Peter’s disheartened expression.

“I’m saying it’s worth a try,” He said with slightly more conviction. “You can take one of the cars and you’ll be faster now that you can carry Riley on your back.”

Riley burped as if in agreement and Tony chuckled and brought the baby down off his shoulder, cooing at him for a moment before he handed him back to Peter.

Peter tucked Riley to his chest while he considered Tony’s words, frowning.

“Tony…” He said slowly, the crease between his brows deepening, “Why did you say it like that? Like you wouldn’t be coming with us?”

Tony stiffened for a second before he forced a rough laugh.

“I don’t know,” he said with feigned nonchalance, “I already promised to stick with you and the little bumper.”

They fell into slightly awkward silence. It was true, Tony had promised to stick with them, but that promise had been made in the desert when he and Tony both thought they were probably going to die. Peter wasn’t sure if a promise counted when it was made under such duress. Truthfully, Peter was more worried about what would make Tony consider breaking that promise.

“What is it?” Peter finally asked. Tony glanced at him. He looked like he wanted to lie again, but he deflated under Peter’s steady gaze.

“Hydra.” He said simply. Peter continued to stare, waiting for further explanation. Tony shifted uncomfortably. “The gang that… Steve fought.”

Peter nodded slowly. He thought about Tony’s dead mate often. Peter had never met him, but he’d obviously left a meteor sized impact on Tony, so he couldn’t help but be curious.

“They’re still…” the words seemed to be getting more difficult for Tony and Peter understood. He’d been the same when he thought Wade was dead. “Out there.”

“Oh,” Peter breathed. It felt like he’d had the air knocked out of him at the realization of what this meant for Tony. 

It hadn’t been much in the face of his loss, but Peter  _ knew  _ that the only thing making Steve’s death bearable was the knowledge that it had  _ meant _ something. Steve had died to save people from what Hydra had tried to do. He’d died to protect people from anything Hydra might do in the future. What did it mean to learn now that he’d failed?

Well, not entirely failed. Peter was quite sure that Steve had inadvertently saved his life by averting Hydra’s initial attack - but what if that hadn’t stopped them? What if they just picked up and tried to execute their plan in a different town?

Peter shivered. It was bad enough for him and he’d never even met Steve. For Tony… Peter couldn’t imagine. 

“You’re going after them,” Peter said suddenly, turning toward Tony with wide eyes.

“What? No,” Tony said quickly but now that he’d said it Peter felt sure of it.

Peter had never thought to retaliate at Weapon X after Wade had “died.” First he’d been too overwhelmed with grief and then he’d had a baby to worry about. And besides, Wade’s ‘death’ had felt more like a freakish, nightmarish twist of fate. It hadn’t been for any particular cause, just a case of the worst luck imaginable. And anyway, Peter didn’t like violence. He didn’t think it would have occurred to him to get revenge on Weapon X. 

But if he had thought of it… if Peter hadn’t had those worries, if he thought he could make them pay for even an ounce of the pain they’d put Wade through… Well, he certainly hadn’t hesitated during the battle today.

Suddenly, Peter felt very afraid.

Peter had been fighting to protect today, but he’d been fighting to survive too. He’d had a baby to live for and a mate to think of and a life to try to build if they all lived through it. Tony didn’t have a baby. He didn’t have a mate. All he had was Peter. And Peter felt sure that he was not enough reason for Tony to try to survive.

“Tony-“ Peter said and he was startled to realize his throat had tightened.

“Don’t worry about it, I already said I wasn’t going to.” Tony said briskly, but Peter could hear the irritation creeping into Tony’s voice.

“But you want to,” Peter did his best not to sound accusatory, “I know you want to.”

Tony couldn’t deny it so he didn’t say anything. Peter had a million things he wanted to say, but no voice to say them with. Oblivious to their tension, Riley entertained himself by trying to fit his fist in his mouth.

A part of Peter wanted to beg Tony not to go. He couldn’t help but think that if Tony left to track down Hydra, that he’d never see Tony again. Peter didn’t think Tony could take them all down by himself, but he  _ did _ think Tony would die trying. Peter did not want to say goodbye. 

The childish part of him wanted to rage at the thought of being abandoned, to shout that Tony he  _ promised _ they could be a family, and how could he leave Riley without seeing him grow up? How could he be content to know that Riley would never remember him? 

Peter held his breath. He tried to imagine a world where Tony turned his back in Hydra. He tried to imagine Tony going with him and Wade to seek shelter with the Osborn’s. He tried to imagine a world where Tony could be happy living quietly with them and maybe May while he knew Hydra was still out there. 

It was impossible. Peter knew it was impossible. It just wasn’t in Tony’s nature. There would be no peace for him until he knew that Steve’s death had been avenged. 

Peter knew that if he asked, Tony would stay. But it would kill him just as much as if he’d run headlong at Hydra. Peter couldn’t ask it, no matter how much he wanted to. He took a shaky breath.

“It’s ok,” he said, trying and failing to give Tony an understanding smile. “We’ll be ok.”

“Peter…”

“It’s ok. You can go.” Peter wiped furiously at his eyes with his free hand. Tony seemed frozen with indecision for a moment before he finally wrapped his arms around Peter and Riley both and pulled them into a gruff embrace.

“Thank you.”

—

  
  


As it turned out, Clint and Natasha were able to scavenge quite a lot from the rubble. It took hours of careful excavation, but it was so much more than what they’d expected that it seemed entirely worth the effort, and the work went faster after Bruce and Wade had roused themselves enough to help.

They all knew that the homestead had to be abandoned. That, at least, had never been a question. Pitching Peter’s plan to make a dash for the Osborn’s and Tony’s plan to track down Hydra was a little trickier.

Wade, who’d seen first hand the kind of treatment they’d received from Norman in the past, didn’t like the idea much at all. Norman could be a danger to them too, even if it was a different sort of danger than Weapon X posed. Pointing out that they could probably still count on Harry didn’t help much either, though for different reasons. 

Peter knew that Harry brought a lot of Wade’s insecurities to the forefront. It had been bad enough when it had just been that Harry was rich. Now, however, there were also his looks to contend with as well. It didn’t matter what Peter said, he knew Wade wouldn’t be able to help comparing his appearance to Harry’s. It had been one thing before, when Wade had been a bit vain and didn’t mind flaunting the whole ‘strapping young Alpha’ angle, but after Weapon X and the scars… 

And then there was the blow to his pride. Wade was by far the best, least posturing Alpha that Peter had ever met, but even if he hadn’t been an Alpha, Peter thought this might sting. Wade certainly made it clear how responsible he felt for protecting him and Riley and for providing for them. To have to go running to someone else because he was not able to protect them was bound to rub the wrong way. Especially since Peter  _ had _ considered Harry for a mate at one point.

Peter understood all this but he pushed Wade anyway because he didn’t have a better idea. Wade reaffirmed himself as the best Alpha that Peter knew when he agreed to the plan. Wade didn’t have any other ideas either and he wasn’t going to let his pride be the reason Weapon X caught up to them again.

Tony’s plan got much more of a reaction out of everyone: Natasha’s eyes took on an uncanny gleam, Strange straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin, and Clint and Bruce shared some sort of meaningful glance.

To Peter’s surprise, it was Strange who first volunteered to accompany Tony. No one else, save for Peter and Wade, seemed particularly surprised and all Strange offered in explanation was that he “had a lot to make up for.” Peter didn’t know what this meant, but apparently Tony did since he just gave Strange wry smirk and a nod.

Natasha was also quick to jump on the plan, though her explanation was more that she had “unfinished business” with Hydra. Again, only Wade and Peter seemed out of the loop, but this at least Peter could guess at. He’d seen the scar on Natasha’s abdomen, even if he’d never explicitly asked how she got it. Hydra seemed like a good guess, at the moment. 

Of course, Clint and Bruce would follow Natasha wherever she went, and said as much when the opening presented itself.

Peter looked around at their little troop and felt his heart swell.  _ Tony wouldn’t be going alone _ . He’d have some experienced fighters with him and a doctor and it sounded like Natasha, at least, might have some insider information. He wouldn’t be alone, he wouldn’t be defenseless. Even if they didn’t take down Hydra completely, Peter let himself begin to hope that maybe Tony could survive the attempt. 

—

They spent the next eighteen hours scavenging everything they could from the rubble and the next six hours after that packing.

None of the Weapon X agents had survived the attack on Natasha’s house, which left them with the three cars that the agents had arrived in. 

Peter tried to help them pack up the vehicles, both truthfully he had to stop so often to feed or change or soothe Riley that he wasn’t very useful. It was oddly comforting to watch Tony fret about the supplies though, trying to give them food that could be mashed easily in case Riley started trying to eat real food, or how to rig up something resembling a car seat and so on. It felt nice to know that just because they were parting ways didn’t mean that Tony didn’t care about them.

And then, quite suddenly, it was time to say goodbye. 

Strange was the easiest to bid farewell to. Peter knew he owed the doctor a great deal, and he tried to imbue his goodbye with as much gratitude as he could manage, but truthfully he and Strange had never grown close.

And then there were their hosts. Peter found he had almost too much to say to them, babbling his thanks for their shelter and support and the food they’d shared and so on. Bruce turned a bright pink at the praise and looked down at his shoes, but Clint was oddly placid. He barely reacted to anything Peter said, only nodding whenever Peter stopped for breath.

It wasn’t until Peter had finally run out of things to say that Clint gave him a shit-eating grin and held up his  _ disconnected  _ hearing aid. He literally had not heard a word Peter said. Peter huffed in annoyance before dissolving into laughter. Clint scooped him and Riley into a hug and kissed the top of Riley’s head.

“Gonna miss having you around little pill-bug,” Clint told the baby wistfully, “You’re still the most convincing argument for having kids that I got.”

Overhearing them, Bruce rolled his eyes. Clint had been campaigning for their little triad to have a few kids of their own ever since Riley was born. It would probably have to be put on hold now, Peter thought, if they were going to go off after Hydra.

Natasha hugged him fiercely and reminded him to keep his feet planted and his knees bent when he fought.

They made it easy for Peter to leave laughing. The laughter died in his throat when he came face to face with Tony again. Tony shifted nervously from foot to foot, barely able to bring himself to look at Peter. Peter knew he still felt guilty over parting ways.

Peter couldn’t bring himself to tell Tony that it was all ok, so he carefully passed Riley to Tony to say goodbye first. Tony took the baby and held him close to his chest. He swayed back and forth a bit, his nose pressed to the top of Riley’s head. When Riley inevitably began to squirm, Tony passed him off to Wade.

For a moment they just looked at each other. Then Tony sighed and rubbed the back of his head, looking away.

“Sorry,” He said softly.

“Don’t say that. Don’t say that, it makes it sound like you don’t want to go and I can’t stand it if you were doing it and you didn’t even want to.” 

“I- wish I could do it without leaving you and the pebble.” Tony admitted.

“I know.” Peter didn’t know what else to say. He had entertained the idea of taking Wade and Riley and going with Tony and the others but it just wasn’t practical. If Weapon X caught up to them while they were already in the middle of messing with Hydra… it would be a disaster. It could be a disaster even if that didn’t happen.

There was more Peter wanted to say. He wanted to beg Tony to change his mind, he wanted to tell him how badly he would miss him if he left. But he couldn’t say that because he knew Tony would listen to him. He knew Tony would drop the idea if Peter told him to and follow him back west and live the rest of his life miserable and full of regret if Peter asked him to.

So instead Peter leaned into Tony and hugged him as tightly as he could. For a moment, Tony didn’t seem to know how to react. Then he wrapped his arms around Peter and held him in return. Peter could feel the lump in his throat threatening to choke him and he tried to bite it back. Tears would be just as effective as words in changing Tony’s mind and he couldn’t do that to him.

“Just— don't  _ die _ , ok?” Peter demanded, face buried in Tony’s shoulder. Tony’s scent was slipping back to neutral, he realized. They’d been around so many people and Peter hadn’t been the only one relying on him and so Tony’s scent was becoming less and less Alpha. He didn’t know how to feel about that. 

“Ok,” Tony said with a little squeeze. Peter didn’t think he was imagining the tightness in his voice.

“ _ Promise. _ ” Peter pushed. It was childish but he didn’t care.

“I promise,” Tony told him. Peter knew it was a promise Tony might not be able to keep but he took it anyway, greedy for any comfort he could get. “You too, ok? You and Wade and the pup. You stay safe too.”

“We will. You’ll come find us afterward? You know how to get to the Osborns’ territory? My aunt’s house is right next to theirs. We’ll be there. We’ll wait…”

“Yeah, we’ll come find you.” Tony promised.

It was a long time before the two pried themselves apart and Peter let Wade bundle him and Riley into the back seat. He didn’t catch what passed between Tony and Wade before Wade climbed behind the wheel.

It was only after they’d started moving and there was no way any of their old pack could hear him that Peter allowed himself to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's Bruce's 'hulked out' form haha
> 
> Also, this isn't supposed to be Holland!Spidey specifically, I just really loved Homecoming's rendition of MJ and the addition of Ned. Really, those two kind of stole the show for me, so that's why they are mentioned. 
> 
> Unfortunately, this IS the end of IronDad content for THIS fic (it hurts, I will miss it, if I ever get around to a part 4 it is dEFINITELY coming back) but I needed room for future SpiderDad/DadPool content


	3. The Truck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: discussions of lactation, discussions of Mpreg, violence, gun violence, blood, discussions of child trafficking  
> DESCRIPTIONS OF DEAD BODIES INCLUDING DEAD CHILDREN - to skip stop reading at “his stomach churned when he found the source” and pick up again at “he paused some yards away”

It was strange to be back in a car after so many months without one. It took some getting used to in a way Peter didn’t remember happening last time. Although, to be fair, the last time Peter had to adjust to riding in a car, he’d been nearly catatonic with grief over thinking that Wade was dead.

It was nice to have Wade all to himself though. Sure, he and Wade had shared a room in Natasha’s house, but there had always been so many people around (even if they weren’t in the room with them). It was reassuring to find that he and Wade still got along as friends in addition to everything else. After so many changes (between the baby and Wade’s horrific experience with Weapon X) Peter had been a little worried that they’d be reduced to mere co-parents. 

But no, Wade still chatted idly in a soothing sort of way, and hummed, and flirted like he still had to win Peter over. Peter favorite moments, however, were when he got to drive and Wade took Riley into the backseat with him. Peter still had to keep most of his attention on the road, but he liked listening to Wade sing to the baby and he liked hearing Riley tripping over nonsense syllables to try to mimic Wade and he liked glancing in the rear view mirror to see that Wade passed out on his back with Riley sound asleep on his chest. And it was funny in a heartbreaking sort of way when Riley woke up and started pawing at Wade’s flat chest.

Wade had told him once that he was sort of jealous that he never got the chance to feed Riley. Sure, he’d be able to help with real food, but he wasn’t able to nurse and he wouldn’t be able to unless  _ he  _ was the one to carry a baby. And they weren’t quite ready for that yet.

“Maybe if we can find somewhere safe,” Peter had told him, and it was worth it for the way Wade’s face lit up. It would be a good look on him, Peter thought. And it would be so different to have chosen and prepared for another baby rather than making it up on the fly like they’d had to do with Riley’s unexpected arrival. 

It was a nice thought, if they ever found somewhere safe enough. Peter would  _ hardly _ mind being able to get between Wade’s thighs again. They hadn’t been able to do  _ that _ in forever. And Alpha fertility was so low, it would probably take tons and tons of tries… maybe, if they ever made it there, May would agree to watch Riley while they attempted it.

Wade lost his head laughing when Peter voiced this and nearly made Peter pull over so they could ‘get started’ but Peter talked him out of it. Time was of the essence now.

They still had to stop often since Riley demanded to be fed every few hours, but it was much faster than it would have been if they’d been on foot. 

—

It took nearly two days for them to run out of gas. There had been some vain hope that they’d be able to find more fuel and keep the car longer, but not much. At least they’d been prepared for it this time, not like the last time when they’d been stranded with nothing.

Natasha and Tony had done a good job loading them up with provisions and when the gas finally ran out, they were able to pack everything up and carry it on their backs rather than having to abandon it. It was a tricky to get geared up, with Wade carrying most of the water since it was so heavy and Peter trying to balance Riley and a rifle that was more than twice as tall as the baby, but they managed. Their friends had even packed a small straw hat for Riley to keep the sun off him as much as possible. Wrapped up in his sling for easy carrying, all that was visible of Riley was his little chin when they put the hat on.

When they were finally set, Peter stood back while Wade rigged the last bit of gasoline in the car to explode. They’d talked it over and decided that if Weapon X  _ had  _ followed them, then there wasn't much secrecy to preserve about where they were. Weapon X would have a good estimate, even if they were a few days behind. So the smoke from the explosion would be worth it if it meant that they didn’t leave anything behind that could be used against them. Even if the car had been broken, the parts could still have been re-purposed as weapons. Better to leave them nothing but a smoldering hunk of metal. Who knew? Maybe they’d luck out and Weapon X would assume they’d all died in the explosion.

—

Compared to the car, they moved much slower on foot, but it was still faster than Peter expected. It was somewhat embarrassing to realize that he’d been slower when he was pregnant than they were with an actual baby. 

The difference seemed to be that  _ everything  _ Peter did when he'd been pregnant felt slow since he'd been slow tired and uncomfortable all the time. Now that Riley was out in the world, however, he was easy to pick up and move, regardless of how he felt about it. And there were certainly times when Riley made it known how little he wanted to be put back in his wrap. Wade had more trouble with it, honestly, moved by Riley’s crying to ask Peter if it couldn’t wait ten more minutes. It was never  _ enjoyable _ to know that their kid was upset, but Peter had much fewer compunctions about bundling Riley back onto his back, crying or not, than Wade did.

They traveled from dusk until it got too cold and they had to break camp and then from just before dawn until it got too hot. They slept most of the day, trying to conserve as much energy as possible. It wasn’t even worth it for Wade to search for water during the day most of the time - anything less than an actual stream tended to dry up in the heat.

Peter had expected Riley to struggle with the odd schedule, but the baby took to it well enough. It probably helped that he was so little that he still slept most of the time anyway.

—

Four or so days after they’d left the car behind, something changed.

They had detoured north quite a ways to avoid passing the Weapon X facility that Tony and Wade had stolen the car from. It was nerve wracking to know they were even remotely close, but comforting to know that Wade knew the lay of the land well from his time as Deadpool. 

To keep from veering off track too badly, they’d been following a road. They weren’t traveling  _ on _ it, of course, but parallel, so that they could check that they had not gone off course.

The land was rockier here. It was nice in that it gave a lot more cover to hide behind, but worrisome because it was so much harder to find water. Peter consoled himself with the fact that they were at least able to keep off the road.

In the rocky terrain, the road looked sunken into the ground. In a few places it looked almost like a dry riverbed, snaking along the bottom of a canyon. If canyons were only three to six feet deep, anyway. Most of the time though, the slope up on either side was more gradual and taller, more like a valley than a canyon, but sometimes it dropped practically straight down. Peter guessed that at least part of it was erosion: the result of unknown years of travelers trampling the road deeper and deeper into the ground, but the rest was a mystery.

At any rate, Peter was glad that they could keep the high ground since they were on foot. If they’d still had the car, they would have had little choice but to inch along that corridor. It practically seemed to be  _ begging  _ to be ambushed. 

Still, Peter never thought that  _ they  _ would be the ones doing the ambushing.

It wasn’t something they’d planned. They'd just heard distant  _ "bang" _ and dropped low to the ground. When the sound neither drew closer nor pulled away, they crept carefully along the top of the ridge until they could peer down and see the source of the commotion.

It was a truck. The back doors were flung open wide and they could see a handful of dirty blankets and benches inside. The truck slumped forward awkwardly; something was wrong with one of the front wheels. They were stuck. This was not the most striking thing about the scene, however. Surprisingly, neither was the distinctive red ‘X’ painted on the side of the truck.

The most striking thing was the small cluster of children sitting outside the vehicle. There were a handful of them in varying states of disarray. From this distance, Peter couldn’t guess their ages: they were all old enough to walk independently and young enough that they hadn’t presented yet, but that could be anywhere from two to thirteen, so it didn't narrow it down much. They huddled together on the ground outside the truck, watching the armed men who guarded their perimeter. 

Peter glanced to Wade, unsurprised to find his mate’s face etched with outrage. Wade hated violence toward kids. Not that Peter  _ liked  _ it or anything, but there was a special hatred in Wade’s heart reserved for child abusers. When Wade looked back at Peter his expression became pleading.

Peter nodded in silent agreement; there was no way those kids were meant to be in Weapon X’s custody and there was no way Peter and Wade were going to leave them there.

With the truck as broken as it was, time was on their side and the pair withdrew further from the road. Certain that things were about to get very loud, Peter paused to cover Riley's ears, though he had to settle for wrapping a shirt around the Riley's head like a turban, making sure to cover his ears, since they lacked anything better. He stuck the hat back on top of the whole contraption to keep it in place. Wade adjusted his own gun in silence.

They had fallen into a pattern in those few years when it had been just the two of them. Growing up with May, Peter had never needed to learn self defense. When he had been forced to learn, however, Peter turned out to be a decent shot, even from a longer range. When he and Wade had needed to scavenge anything, they’d always ended up using the same tactic. 

Wade, with his intimidating size, would confront whatever obstacle they faced head on. Sometimes he kept the attention of opposition on himself so Peter could sneak by while they were distracted, but more often Peter would guard Wade’s back from a distance with a gun of his own. Wade didn’t usually need much back up, but Peter had shocked himself when he found that he was able to pull the trigger in moments when Wade  _ couldn’t  _ defend himself. Of course, he never aimed to kill, but still… it was something he never would have believed himself capable of in his youth.

Then again, facing down the choice between hurting someone or standing by and letting someone hurt his mate made the decision an easy one.

It was this pattern that they fell back on now. Neither of them would bring Riley near the fight, but if Peter perched himself correctly, they wouldn’t have to. The steep valley of the road made it an ideal spot to begin with.

“Careful,” Peter warned as they readied themselves. Wade nodded. They both knew the warning was just as much to keep from accidentally catching a child in the crossfire as it was to keep Wade safe. Peter caught Wade by the shoulder, pulling him down for a brief kiss before he released him and settled in his sniper’s nest to watch.

Wade took a deep breath and Peter could almost see him sink back into being Deadpool. His stance shifted, his shoulders tensed. Somehow, when Wade began his charge down the hill, his gait was different. It hurt some to watch. Wade had always been strong, but he’d never been  _ honed _ like this, trained, sharpened like a knife - not before Weapon X anyway.

A cry went up from the guards as they saw Wade, whirling to aim their guns at him. There were half a dozen of them that Peter could see, though two fell to Wade before they could attack him. Peter tried not to think of how Wade always shot to kill now. He wanted to object, but with children at stake, he didn’t feel like he could afford his morals. 

Even with the cloth around his ears, the bangs and shouts were loud enough that Riley began to cry. Peter didn’t dare spare a hand to stroke the cub’s head though; Wade still needed him to watch his back. At least the noise was unlikely to give away their position. The thick of the fighting was too loud for them to pick up on a baby crying at this distance. 

A bullet grazed Wade’s shoulder, making him stagger and Peter fired. He was lucky. The man fell, clutching his arm rather than collapsing lifeless to the ground. Peter caught Wade’s little salute of thanks as he closed in on the kids. 

Of the three remaining men, two had been near the front of the truck, clearly trying to repair it. Wade tackled the third man, the one who’d been guarding the children. Peter could not hear him but, at Wade’s appearance, the kids scattered. Wade grappled with the guard in the dirt while the last two men raced to catch the fleeing children. 

Peter held his breath. He had to be careful now. He wouldn’t risk hitting any of the kids. 

He was too cautious though. When he took his next shot, he missed. The blast punched harmlessly through the side of the truck. The man Peter had been aiming for spun. He shouted something, pointing in the direction of Peter’s hiding place. Peter swore, though the noise of the fight and Riley’s screaming swallowed up the sound. 

Peter’s hands shook as one of the remaining men foisted a weapon and charged in their direction. Logically, Peter knew the man was being stupid. Peter had the high ground and the man had no way of knowing if Peter was alone or what sort of weapons he had. But Peter also had Riley with him, and the weapon the man carried seemed much larger than a gun. It looked closer to a canon, if Peter were honest. 

Peter bit his cheek as he missed the man again, once, twice,  _ three _ times in a row. He ducked low behind the rocks to catch his breath, but nearly lept out of his skin when the agent finally took a shot at where he  _ guessed _ Peter was hiding. He was off by about five yards, but the stone  _ exploded _ where it was hit, leaving a small crater behind. Peter’s heart leapt. The man wouldn’t need to be terrifically accurate if it dealt damage like that. 

Peter hesitated. If he stayed still, the man would eventually guess well enough for them to be blown to smithereens. But, if Peter tried to shoot and  _ missed _ again, then it could give away their position. 

In the end, he couldn’t allow himself to just sit and wait for disaster. He lowered his sight on the man who crouched on the slope below them.

Peter couldn’t help but give a shout of frustration when he failed to hit his target. It had been close though. The ground by the man’s knee exploded in a tiny cascade of pebbles and the man lept back instinctively. 

The slope was too steep. Peter watched as the man tumbled back, arm-cannon and all, back down to the road. Only he fell not onto empty dirt, but into his companion who still chased one of the children around the truck. The hood of the truck had been lifted to help with repairs, and the momentum smashed both men and their guns into the open mechanics. 

For a moment, Peter thought he’d ruined everything, that the men would disentangle themselves and come charging back up the hill with a better idea of Peter’s hiding spot. Then he saw the spark.

It was just like when Wade had been shot, back before he’d met Tony. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, giving him far too much time to watch it all unfold. Peter turned his head, watching the children scatter in all directions. Even Wade had begun to flee, heading back up the slope after one of the smaller children, who struggled to climb the steep surface. But the spark at the front of the truck had caught. The fireball of an explosion was already blooming, eating up the truck and everything it touched in the blink of an eye. Peter swore he could see the moment Wade realized that he and the kid he followed wouldn’t make it out of the blast range in time. 

Peter watched just long enough to see Wade throw himself on top of the child before he shut his eyes and turned away. He couldn’t watch. Even if Wade did have his regenerative abilities, he couldn’t watch Wade die, not again. He curled around Riley, dropping his own gun in order to cover Riley’s ears with his hands.

The ground shook with the force of the explosion.

Peter’s throat worked furiously. He tried to focus on Riley, who continued to wail, only to realize that he couldn’t hear the baby. His ears were still ringing from the force of the explosion. The realization made panic flare in Peter’s chest and he buried his face in the crook of Riley’s shoulder, breathing heavily until slowly the sound of him crying slowly filtered back. 

Riley wasn’t the only one. Besides the crackle of the fire on the smoldering remains of the truck, Peter could hear another voice screaming.  _ The rest of the children _ , Peter remembered,  _ Wade. _

Slowly, Peter forced his body to cooperate. He resettled Riley on his back, slung his rifle back over his shoulder and uncurled from his sniper’s nest.

He slid down the rocky slope toward the screaming and felt his heart drop as he caught sight of Wade.  _ It’s not like before. He’s got healing powers now. It’s not like before. _ Even reminding himself of the fact didn’t make it any easier to see Wade like this. 

He was face down in the dirt, limp and unresponsive. Peter could see jagged pieces of shrapnel protruding from his back and the dark stain spreading over his suit. Beneath Wade’s body, kicking and screaming, was the child. As they got closer, the noise seemed to set Riley off and the baby began to wail again as well. 

“He’s dead!” The child was screaming over and over again. She (Peter assumed she was a she) was too little to get out from under Wade’s bulk on her own. “He’s dead! He’s dead!”

Peter did his best to keep from joining her inconsolable crying. He knew Wade would likely revive, but the fear that perhaps this time he wouldn’t never really went away. Ignoring both crying children, Peter knelt and rolled Wade off of the child he’d literally died to protect. When the kid seemed too preoccupied with screaming to move, Peter tugged her gently back out into the open. 

“He’s dead!”

“He’s not dead,” Peter said firmly, as much for his own benefit as hers. “He’s gonna be ok. He’s gonna be just fine.”

Given the state Wade was in, Peter’s words did nothing to soothe the girl. She continued to cry as Peter did his best to pull the shrapnel from Wade’s body. He didn’t know if Wade’s healing would eject the twisted metal naturally or if his body would just try to heal around it, but Peter didn’t want to risk it. His hands were bloody and his ears were ringing from the wailing children by the time he finished. 

When he turned back to the little girl, Peter had to admit he was a little impressed with her lung capacity. Given how loud and how long her scream went on, Peter half thought she would knock herself out. Luckily, she needed to breathe sometime and when she paused to suck in a great gasp of air, Riley gave a particularly loud shriek. 

The girl stopped short. Her mouth was still agape, comically frozen as she’d been gearing up to scream again. Riley continued to cry.

“What’s that?” She asked after a long pause. Her voice was rough from crying and she was still gasping like she might burst back into tears at any moment.

“Uh, this is my baby.” He told her, almost as surprised as she was that something managed to distract her.

“It’s crying.” She said, as though Peter could have missed the baby still screaming in his ear.

“Yep.” He popped the ‘P’ as he spoke. 

“Why?” She asked. Peter felt suddenly at a loss. He wasn’t used to interacting with children who could  _ talk _ . 

“Um,” He said blankly. The longer he tried to think of a good answer, the more likely it seemed that the little girl would start crying again. “Probably because the loud noises hurt his ears because the noise is really big and his ears are really small.”

“Why’s he so little?” She frowned. Peter almost wanted to laugh. She looked downright suspicious. 

“Because-- he’s--- a baby?” Peter tilted his head, unable to think of a better explanation. Luckily, the little girl seemed to accept this. Her breathing had evened out some and though she still looked close to tears, she no longer looked like she was going to start screaming again. Although perhaps that was just because Peter had her attention locked on him and  _ not  _ Wade’s lifeless body. 

“Um, my name’s Peter,” He said quickly, realizing that the longer he could keep her attention the better. Hopefully Wade would revive soon and the child would only be a  _ little  _ scarred for life. He fussed with Riley’s sling for a moment until the baby slid off his back and into his arms. Riley waved his little fists once they’d been freed but didn’t fight him much when Peter re-swaddled him and held the baby to his chest. For the moment at least, Riley seemed content to mash his face against Peter’s neck while he cried. 

“And this is Riley,” he added, stroking the baby’s back. “What’s your name?”

The girl took a step closer to get a better look at Riley. She had not totally lost her expression of confusion and skepticism, but at least she was sufficiently distracted. 

“... Ellie,” She said finally. Peter breathed a little sigh of relief.

“How old are you, Ellie?” The girl took another step toward him, close enough that Peter could catch her sweet neutral child’s scent. She paused to think about it before holding up four fingers. “Wow, that many?”

“And three-quarters.” She said firmly, determined to make the distinction. 

“That’s pretty big,” Peter said quickly. “Riley is only three and half months old. He’s not even a year.”

“Because he’s a baby.” Ellie repeated sagely. She glanced over her shoulder at Wade. He still hadn’t moved, but Peter could see that the wounds on his back had begun to close. “Who’s that?”

“That’s my Alpha,” Peter said, unsure of how to steer the topic back away from Wade lest Ellie begin to cry again. “His name is Wade.”

“He’s dead…” Ellie said softly. Much to Peter’s chagrin, her wide dark eyes began to fill with tears again and her breath came in deep uneven gasps. This time when she began to cry, however, she just sobbed. The shrieking, Peter guessed, had been at least partially out of fear. Now that she’d calmed down a little, Ellie’s sobs were quieter but utterly inconsolable. The little girl sat down in front of Peter and face-planted herself directly onto his thigh, shoving her face into his jeans and clinging to his leg while she cried.

“Eh- it’s ok,” Peter tried to say, reaching awkwardly with one hand to pet her back. “He’s gonna wake up again soon. It’s ok.”

Ellie, for all that she was very young, seemed to know better than to believe him. Slowly, however, both she and Riley seemed to wear themselves out. Peter had just begun to wonder if the children had fallen asleep, when he heard a familiar groan.

“Ugh, can I say, just for the record, that dying is not nearly as much fun as you’d think it is?” Wade moaned, rubbing the back of his neck as he slowly sat up, blinking around at his surroundings.

Ellie screamed. Startled from sleep by her cry, Riley joined her.

“Oh my god, Wade, I  _ just  _ got them to stop.” Peter complained. Wade shot him a sheepish grin before registering Ellie properly for the first time. Peter could see the tension drop off Wade’s shoulders as he realized that the little girl was safe, that his sacrifice (however temporary) had been worth it. 

“Who’s your friend, Pete?” He asked, the fabric of his mask shifting as he smiled. Ellie had stopped screaming to glare at Wade.

“Ellie…” Peter prompted, hoping the girl would introduce herself. Instead she took a step toward Wade, still frowning fiercely, and pointed a finger at him accusingly.

“How come you’re not dead?” She demanded. Peter sighed, muttering to himself under his breath.

“ _ Oh my god, Ellie, you can’t just ask people why they’re not dead.” _

_ “ _ Its my superpower,” Wade told her casually. Her eyes narrowed.

“Prove it,” she ordered. Peter could tell Wade was grinning under his mask. He wiggled his fingers at Ellie.

“I’m alive, aren’t I?”

Peter wasn’t sure this constituted as proof, but Ellie gasped as though Wade had offered some great revelation.

“Ellie,” Peter said quickly, cutting the child off before she could pepper Wade with more questions. “This is important. Can you tell me how many other kids were in the truck with you?” 

Ellie didn’t respond immediately, not ready to abandon the topic of Wade’s superpowers quite so easily.

“Ellie.” Peter said sternly. She jumped and scowled but pursed her lips, thinking.

“I think… four?” She said after a moment, holding up four fingers to show him again. Peter felt a little surge of frustration that she couldn’t give him a better answer, but quickly reigned his temper in. The girl wasn’t even five yet and she’s been through some pretty traumatic stuff between almost certainly being kidnapped and then the explosion and Wade dying on top of her. He couldn’t really expect more.

“I’m going to go look for them,” Peter told Wade, patting Riley’s back in a half-hearted attempt to comfort the still crying baby.

“I’ll come with you,” Wade said, shifting to start getting up from his seat and hissing.

“No, you just got up,” Peter said, standing himself and moving to cup Wade’s face. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Make sure Ellie’s ok and then catch up. We won’t go far.”

“Be careful,” Wade told him, suddenly serious as he caught Peter’s hand and pressed a kiss to his palm, even if it was through the mask. Peter nodded before he began to move off. He could hear Ellie picking up where she’d left off with demanding answers from Wade and smiled to himself.

—-

Peter picked his way carefully down the hill the rest of the way to the road. For the most part, he gave the larger chunks of debris a wide berth. He wasn’t sure if the explosion had detonated  _ everything _ or if another one might go off if he tapped the wrong hunk of metal. The smell was bad. There was the smoke and burnt rubber and sulfur he might have expected, but a sickly sweet yet overpoweringly acidic stench as well.

His stomach churned when he found the source and he tucked Riley closer to his chest, making sure the baby’s face was still hidden in his neck. Riley probably wouldn’t remember the bodies, but Peter still didn’t want to expose him to them. 

Those closest to the center of the blast weren’t too bad. It was horrifying, sure, to see fingers and hair and feet with nothing attached to them, but Peter was fairly certain that the men had just been blown to smithereens. The ones just outside the immediate blast range were much worse: a man with a gaping hole where the left side of his face and head should have been, another missing the entire lower half of his body. He was the main source of the smell, his punctured organs spilling out from him. The sight and smell left Peter’s stomach churning.

He tried to pretend it was the residual smoke stinging his eyes, but he couldn’t when he found the first child. She was dead. She lay face down in the dirt, soot and ash caking the back of her head. Her right leg up past the knee and most of her left foot were gone. Peter guessed it was that and the compounding blood loss that had killed her. She was only a little bigger than Ellie. 

Peter swallowed hard, trying to focus on the possibility of finding survivors, but another child lay not far beyond the first. He looked around seven or eight if Peter had to guess. He lay on his back at the base of a large boulder. He might have been sleeping, dark eyelashes resting peacefully on his brown cheeks, if not for the unnatural angle of his neck. He must have been thrown by the blast. 

It wasn’t fair. If he’d just landed a little differently… Peter brought his free hand to his mouth, breathing hard as he stepped past the little boy. 

He paused some yards away, wiping furiously at his streaming eyes. Was it their fault? It hadn’t been their explosive that went off, but surely it wouldn't have been set off to begin with if he and Wade hadn’t attacked them. They’d been trying to help, to save the children if they could, and now two of them were dead.  _ They might have died anyway, wherever they were taking them _ , he tried to remind himself, but it wasn’t good enough. They should have been able to rescue all of them.

At his chest, Riley had wound down to whining pitifully rather than crying and Peter stroked his back.

“I know,” he said softly, readjusting his grip so he could rock the baby gently. “I know. Everything is so hard, isn’t it?”

Somewhere nearby, something moved. Peter froze.

They hadn’t _really_ been able to count how many men from Weapon X there were. There was no guarantee that all of them had been killed. Peter’s mind raced. He still had his rifle but he didn’t know if he could fire it while he was holding Riley in front of him like this and he didn’t know if he could get Riley on his back without alerting whoever it was to the fact that Peter had noticed him.

“Miles, get back!” The voice was a thin high whisper, positively furious. It was answered by an equally small whisper.

“But he’s got a baby.”

“So?”

“So, Mami said if I ever got lost that I should find someone with kids to help me and he has a baby!”

“The other guys had kids too, that didn’t make them good!”

Slowly, Peter let himself relax. If nothing else, the voices were young. And there were at least two children still unaccounted for. Peter’s heart leapt; they were still alive.

“Hello?” He called cautiously, not wanting to spook the kids anymore than they already were. “Are you ok? We’re not here to hurt you, we want to help.”

Peter realized that the statement might be more convincing if two children hadn’t already  _ died _ as a result of their ‘help.’ The whispering died down almost as soon as he’d acknowledged it, but Peter wasn’t really surprised and he didn’t really blame them

He moved slow, continuing to idly bounce Riley on his hip while the baby fussed. It wasn’t really difficult to find the kids now that Peter knew they were there.

They were older than the other children, but still young. Peter would have been shocked if they were over eleven, but if Peter had to guess he’d place them around nine or ten. There were two of them. The older of the two (Peter guessed as much because they were taller) had astonishingly blonde hair and pale skin to match and radiated  _ fury.  _

Peter had guessed that Ellie was probably a girl based on her clothing and the sparkly scrunchy she’d worn in her hair. This child was harder to guess about, so Peter stopped trying. They stood with their fists clenched and their feet planted apart, looking for all the world like they were ready to fight tooth and nail if they had to. Despite that, Peter could smell the fear tainting their otherwise neutral unpresented scent.

The second child peered around the first’s shoulder with a mixture of curiosity and caution. This one Peter felt relatively confident guessing was a little boy. He had dark brown skin and wide brown eyes and he stared at Peter as best he could with his companion so firmly planted in front of him.

“Stay back!” The older kid warned when Peter approached, starting to crouch and trying to bare their teeth. They were clearly mimicking the aggressive behavior of an adult, but they were so young that their adult cuspids hadn’t even grown in yet. Without fangs or the pheromones to back it up, the gesture only broke Peter’s heart, rather than striking fear into it. They were  _ so  _ young. The blonde kid couldn’t be more than a year older than the little boy and they were still trying so hard to be brave, to protect him.

Peter stopped, not wanting to intimidate them even more. He kept one hand on Riley while the baby fussed but he opened the other palm up in front of him.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” He said, trying to make his voice as soft and nonthreatening as he could. He took another step forward, and the blonde kid immediately started trying to growl again. 

Peter took a deep breath and painstakingly began the process of unstrapping his rifle one-handed. It was a chore to do it without jostling Riley too badly, and the fact of him touching his weapon at all made the fear spike in the children’s scents, but Peter managed. Finally he kicked the gun away out of reach and showed them his empty hand again.

“See? It’s ok.” He said again. 

The blonde eyed him suspiciously, but stopped growling. Or, trying to growl. Peter sighed. There was a rock a few feet to his left and Peter gingerly settled on it, still in plain view of the kids.

“My name’s Peter,” he offered, trying another route. “And this is my baby, Riley.”

It had worked for Ellie, maybe it would work for these older kids too? The boy didn’t seem too suspicious at least, even if his friend was still watching him like a hawk.

“... do you guys know Ellie?” He asked after another moment had passed. The boy gasped and grabbed his friend’s arm, tugging to get their attention. 

“ _ Gwen _ !” He whispered meaningfully. 

“Where’s Ellie?” The blonde - Gwen, apparently - drew herself up to her full height. Glaring daggers.

“She’s ok,” Peter said quickly. “She’s safe, she’s with my Alpha.”

When that didn’t seem to soothe the pair, Peter added, “They’ll be here in just a minute.”

The boy seemed to accept the explanation and tried to take a step toward Peter, only to have Gwen block his path. The boy whined in annoyance, but didn’t try to shove past her.

“Is it ok if I wait here?” Peter asked. He was going to stay regardless, but he wanted to give the kids as much sense of control as he could. “I’m just gonna sit here and feed my baby while I wait for them to show up, ok?”

At the very least, the kids didn’t protest. Carefully Peter rearranged himself so that he could bring Riley to his chest while keeping him shaded.  _ Finally _ , the baby stopped fussing, even if it was only because he was finally offered a breast to latch onto. Not having the baby crying in his ear was a relief too. The two pairs watched each other while Riley drank.

“Are you guys ok?” Peter asked finally, “Are you hurt?”

Being asked a direct question seemed to set Gwen off again but the boy tugged at her arm again with a little whine.

“I’m hungry,” he complained, and Gwen’s face softened. 

“You’re hungry?” Peter echoed, eager for something to latch on to. “I have some food you can have. Here.”

Peter pulled Riley away, causing the baby to shriek his disapproval at the interruption. Peter shushed him half-heartedly, digging through his bag until he came up with some protein bars. He tossed them to the kids before resettling Riley against his chest.

Gwen eyed them suspiciously, but even she couldn’t turn down free food so easily.

By the time Wade and Ellie finally caught up, Riley had fallen asleep and the kids had finished every crumb of the bars Peter had given them.

“Miles! Gwen!”

From her place on Wade’s shoulders, Ellie began to squirm. Wade caught her before she could fall and set her on the ground where she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her over to the kids. Process of elimination told Peter that the boy was Miles and Ellie ran straight into him, colliding with his knees and wrapping her arms around his legs.

“Ellie!” He said happily, kneeling to hug her. Even Gwen seemed to relax when she saw that Ellie really was unharmed and that she’d been relinquished without a fight. 

Ellie broke away from Miles to pick up one of the protein bar wrappers.

“Aw, it’s empty,” she pouted.

“Don’t worry,” Wade said, settling beside Peter on the rock. “There’s more where that came from. It’s almost time for lunch anyway.”

Wade took off his backpack and redistributed their rations between them so that everyone had at least a little. When presented with a protein bar of her own, Ellie tore into the wrapper with a vengeance, but slowed when she reached the actual food. She frowned intently at it before wandering over to Peter.

“Here,” she said, shoving it at him. Peter stared at her without taking the food from her. Ellie quickly grew impatient and waved the bar at him more insistently. “It’s for the baby! He needs it to get big and strong.”

Peter felt caught between laughing and crying at the selflessness of the gesture. For a moment all he could do was smile at her, sure that if he spoke he would start crying.

“Thank you,” He said, swallowing, “But Riley’s too little to eat solid food yet and I already gave him his lunch. You should keep it so you can get big and strong too.”

Ellie considered this for a moment before she accepted the explanation and went back to Wade. She began trying to climb up the rock to sit next to him, but couldn’t seem to manage with the protein bar still clutched in one hand. 

“Here, I’ll hold it for you,” Wade said. Ellie shook her head, unwilling to part with her food. “Ok, I’m gonna pull you up then.”

Wade carefully wrapped and arm around Ellie’s middle and pulled her up onto the rock beside him. Satisfied, she began to eat her bar, although with not nearly the same finesse as Miles and Gwen had. Cautiously, Wade rolled up the bottom half of his mask to eat as well.

“Whoa!” Ellie gaped as soon as she caught sight of Wade’s mottled skin. “What happened to your face?”

Peter felt a surge of protectiveness for Wade. His Alpha was self conscious at the best of times and Peter didn’t know how the children would react to his scars. Wade, however, just pulled his mask off the rest of the way to look at Ellie properly. She was staring at him, but she seemed more intrigued than afraid.

“You know the guys that got you?” He asked, almost casually. Ellie nodded.

“The bad X men,” she said seriously.

“They got me too.” Wade said simply. “They hurt me, but I got away. I’m better now.”

Ellie lost interest almost as soon as she had her explanation but Peter could see the older children listening intently. This revelation, more than the food or anything Peter had said seemed to soothe them. 

He wondered if they were a bit like Wade - or how Wade used to be. When Wade had first come to live with him and May, it had been a great source of anxiety for him to try to understand why they were kind to him, especially May. It had taken him a long time to accept that an adult might want to help him simply because he needed help and not because of some ulterior motive.

Thinking about the older children that way, Peter supposed it made sense. Two random adults offering help probably wasn’t much comfort after being mistreated by adults for who knew how long. Knowing Wade at least had a reason to spite Weapon X gave them a context that the kids could understand.

Lunch was finished quickly, punctuated by Ellie asking the occasional question. Peter listened to the conversation with one ear while he kept the other open for any approaching footsteps. 

He didn’t hear any though, and by the time they were done eating, Peter felt pretty confident that if there were any survivors from the Weapon X crew, they had either fled or were too weak to pose a threat.

“So how did you end up with those guys?” Peter asked carefully when the conversation died down. He probably shouldn’t have asked, but he needed to know. They couldn’t leave the kids alone in the desert and if there was even a chance of getting them home, Peter would need all the information he could get.

“They told me my Mami was in trouble,” Miles answered first, looking down, “And that I need to come help her. But they grabbed me and then I was in trouble instead.”

“They just told me they had food,” Ellie said, apparently unphased by her time in captivity. 

Peter’s heart ached. They were such innocent explanations - the desire to help, the desire to eat. Fresh anger welled in Peter’s chest that anyone could take advantage of it. He turned to watch Gwen. She shrugged and looked away.

“They said my hair was expensive.” She said with feigned nonchalance. That worried Peter almost more than the other two. Where had Gwen come from that the traffickers hadn’t even bothered with hiding their intentions? Why hadn’t there been someone to protest them taking her?

“Are you gonna take us home?” Miles asked cautiously. Peter shared a glance with Wade. It would be dangerous. They were already being hunted by Weapon X and they’d be slower with so many children in tow. There wasn’t even any guarantee that they’d be able to get the kids back where they’d come from. Still, Peter didn’t think he could live with himself if they didn’t make the attempt. 

To his immense relief, Peter saw the same feeling reflected in Wade’s eyes and felt a rush of affection. He really had picked a good Alpha.

“We’re going to try,” Wade promised.

For the first time, Miles graced them with a small, hopeful smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please feel free to drop me a line if I missed any warnings!


	4. The Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: brief gun violence & non-graphic gore

Miles seemed the easiest to return to his home. He was eager to tell them all about his Mami and his Dad and his uncle and his friends and his city where he’d lived. That was good: people would know Miles was missing, people would be looking for him. If they got close enough, they might be able to ask locals for help even if they couldn’t find his parents specifically.

Ellie was a little trickier. She had only lived with one woman who she intermittently switched between calling ‘grammy’ and ‘abuela’ and Ellie hadn’t been entirely enthusiastic about returning to her. As far as Peter could tell, she was a blood relative, and Ellie had been quick to assure them that she never hurt her. 

“She’s just boring,” Ellie complained, “She sleeps all the time.”

That was a bit of a concern, but boredom didn’t seem like a good enough reason not to try to reunite the family. It would be more difficult though, since Ellie knew much less about  _ where  _ she’d come from. 

Peter didn’t know what to do about Gwen. She didn’t say it in so many words, but it wasn’t difficult to figure out that she didn’t seem to have a family to return to. It confirmed Peter’s earlier fear too - there must not have been anyone to protest Weapon X taking her and no one to notice that she was gone after the fact. 

They had asked if she had somewhere she wanted to go, but she’d just shrugged and said she’d stay long enough to make sure Miles got home ok. And Ellie, she’d added after a moment’s pause.

They’d have to make a decision about it sooner or later, but for now it was enough. 

—

The first few days traveling together were difficult. 

Ellie wasn’t used to walking long distances and she tired before the rest of them, making her fussy and irritable. Whenever they stopped, Miles seemed consumed by an overwhelming sadness, trying to hide how deeply homesick he still was. At night, Gwen seemed never to sleep. She sat with her eyes wide, watching the road and jumping at the slightest noise.

It was painful to watch and frustrating to navigate. None of the children’s problems were ones Peter could easily fix: they couldn't afford to move any slower, he couldn’t instantaneously reunite Miles with his family, and he couldn’t undo whatever trauma had left Gwen so hypervigilant. It left Peter feeling useless and short tempered.

“I don’t get it, you did perfectly fine when you met  _ me, _ ” Wade smirked at him.

“That was different,” Peter tried to insist, “I wasn’t trying to- to- take care of you.”

“Oh yeah, healing a broken leg and giving me a place to live and food to eat wasn’t taking care of me at all,” Wade rolled his eyes. 

“I wasn’t trying to  _ parent _ you,” Peter amended. “I just- wanted to be your friend.”

“So do that,” Wade suggested. “The kids have already got parents, even if they aren’t around anymore. They don’t really need more parents. Just some friendly neighborhood dad-friends.”

Peter resented it a little, but the advice helped. If he stopped trying to think of them as kids he was trying to adopt and started thinking of them as kids he was trying to befriend, it felt a lot more manageable. 

Slowly, over the course of the next week, they adjusted. They worked out switching off Ellie walking and riding on Wade’s shoulders. Miles stopped crying himself to sleep (even though he was obviously still sad) and slowly,  _ slowly, _ Gwen began to let herself fall asleep at all. 

—-

“Can I hold the baby?” 

Peter wasn’t sure why, but Ellie almost never called Riley by his name. It was always ‘the baby’ or ‘baby Riley’ or occasionally ‘little Riley.’ Peter didn't know what to make of it, but Wade seemed to think it was harmless (and adorable to boot) so Peter never tried to correct her. 

“Yeah, let's just get you set up,” Peter said, pulling Riley’s sling so he sat a little higher on his back. 

Nearby, Wade was stringing up some of their blankets to make some shade. It wasn’t a proper tent by a long shot - there weren’t any trees or sticks big enough to prop it up high enough - so the blanket only hung a foot or two off the ground where it was propped  up by scrubby bushes. Miles and Gwen were helping to pick as many stones out of the area as they could. It was something of a tight squeeze with all six of them. Usually he and Wade made sure all the kids were in the shade and then lay down with only their head and shoulders under cover. Miles and Gwen had to lie down to fit under the cover, but Ellie was so little that she could sit up most of the way.

Peter waited until the makeshift shelter was complete before he began to arrange their packs into shape for Ellie.

Peter loved his kid. He loved him more than anything in the world - loved him enough that he would probably push himself  _ and _ Wade in front of speeding bullets for the baby; but he didn’t think anyone else would feel the same way. For reasons beyond him, however, Ellie was obsessed. 

She asked to hold Riley at nearly every stop they made. She liked to watch whenever Peter paused to feed him or when Wade took him aside to clean him. Her questions were incessant and occasionally anxiety-inducing - Peter hadn’t realized  _ just how little  _ he knew about childcare until he tried to explain it to a curious five-year-old. She mimicked both Peter and Wade, softly singing Wade’s favorites to the baby and parroting the perpetual ‘oh, someone is hungry’ when Riley started to fuss. Peter found it odd but utterly charming.

More than once he’d thought how nice it would be for Riley to have another set of eyes on him or a playmate when he got a little older, only to shake himself back to reality. Ellie already had a family and a home that she needed to get back to; if they were lucky, she probably wouldn’t  _ be _ there when Riley was ‘a little older.’

But that was something for future-Peter to think about. Right now, Peter fussed with their bags until Ellie had a place to sit that was more or less surrounded by padding. Even if she dropped Riley accidentally, he wouldn’t really fall.

Ellie shuffled into place excitedly and waited as patiently as a five-year-old was capable of as Peter carefully pulled Riley off his back and arranged him in Ellie’s lap.

They were lucky today: Riley was in one of his cheerful moods and didn’t fuss when his father let him go. He let out a string of nonsensical sounds, but let Ellie fawn over him without issue. Peter wiggled back out from under the blanket, sitting back on his heels beside Wade.

For a moment he was content to listen to Ellie and Riley ‘talk’ to one another - Riley babbling and Ellie parroting the sounds back to him as though it meant something. Wade was smiling to himself, looking at nothing in particular, and for a moment Peter’s heart clenched in his chest. 

It hadn’t really been so long ago that all this seemed like an impossibility. Peter had decided to keep the pup partially because he’d truly believed that Wade was gone. Even raising a kid by himself had seemed better than losing the last piece of Wade he had. He’d never thought they’d get to have this moment. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Wade asked, bumping their shoulders together.

“You,” Peter answered honestly. Wade grinned and scooted closer, leaning his head against Peter’s shoulder.

“Aw, you  _ like _ me,” he teased, nuzzling at him playfully. Peter took one of Wade’s hands.

“I  _ do,”  _ Peter told him firmly, almost like a warning. Wade stilled at his serious tone, but squeezed his hand back.

In the months they’d spent at Clint and Natasha’s house, Wade had been able to do a little healing, but Peter knew it hadn’t been enough to kill Wade’s demons, not by a long shot. Weapon X had left some scars that Peter suspected would never heal. This particular one was older though. Peter had been trying for years to help Wade feel like he deserved to be loved, but Weapon X had definitely undone at least some of his hard work. 

It didn’t help that they’d hardly been alone in the months since Riley was born either. Any of their hosts probably would have been happy to take him for a few hours, but they’d been too nervous to let Riley out of their sight. Now that they didn’t have the support of four other adults at the ready, Peter sort of wished they’d taken advantage of the babysitting while they could. 

At least he probably wouldn’t have a heat until after he stopped breastfeeding. And since Wade was in constant contact with him and the baby too, he’d probably stay rut-free until then as well. Peter didn’t know what they would do if he  _ or  _ Wade were out of commission like that.

—-

Even after they'd found the kids, Peter and Wade had continued traveling north, wary of wandering too close to the Weapon X facility. After a week of traveling with the kids, however, they were forced to change directions. They had reached the edge of a deep canyon that seemed to stretch forever in either direction, running east to west, blocking their continued path. It wasn’t a huge problem, since it had probably stopped them from venturing too far north and they needed to turn west anyway. None of the children remembered crossing a canyon, so it was unlikely that any of them were originally from the other side anyway.

They turned west then, always keeping the canyon to their right.

After only a few days, however, the canyon became a source of deep frustration. The land bordering the canyon was very flat and very very dry. There was little to offer them protection from the sun while they slept during the day, and even less to protect them from the winds at night. Besides that, water was becoming more difficult to find. If there was plant life, Peter and Wade could usually figure out how to tap into the water table, but there was nothing there. Just dry scraggly grass.

Except for in the canyon. It was  _ deep _ , several times taller than any house or tree Peter had ever seen, but there, snaking along the bottom of the canyon, was a river. The canyon itself was mostly gouged into the rock, but anywhere where sandy earth had collected along the riverbanks, greenery grew thick and lush. There might be fish in the river too, which they could eat. It was all within sight but desperately out of reach.

There was no way they could climb down into the canyon so far, especially not with a gaggle of kids. And even if they made it down, how would they ever get back up? It was a cruel taunt to have a promise of food and water so close and yet so far.

It grated on all of them, especially as night after night of poor sleep stacked up.

“Why’s he crying now?” Ellie asked, annoyance creeping into her voice.

“There’s lots of reasons babies cry, Ellie,” Peter told her tiredly.

The sun had only just set and, though it was definitely night, it wasn’t fully dark yet.

They’d had to break up their travel patterns once they’d started traveling with children. It was one thing for him and Wade to walk for long ten hour stretches, but the kids physically were not up to it. Instead, they’d begun using the hours around dawn and dusk for travel, giving over more hours each night to sleep and more hours in the hottest part of each day to rest.

Or as much rest as one could get with a fussy baby in tow. 

“But why is he crying  _ now?”  _ Ellie whined. Peter had asked himself that very question too many times to count. He liked fatherhood, but he would be lying if he said it wasn’t exhausting. Thankfully Wade had taken Riley for the moment. 

“Well, let’s see,” Wade said. Considering how short Wade’s attention span could be, Peter was continually awed by how much patience he seemed to have when it came to kids. He bounced Riley on his lap, but the baby showed no signs of quieting down. “He’s not hungry, we just ate. He’s all clean and dry, we took care of that not too long ago. Hmm… what are the reasons you cry, Ellie-Bellie?”

Ellie pulled a face. “Because I’m sad?”

“What could be making you sad, Riloo-loo?” Wade crooned at the baby.

“Maybe he’s  _ tired _ ,” Gwen grumbled from beneath her blanket. Out of all of them, she seemed to have the most trouble adjusting to the company of a baby.

“Why would he cry if he’s tired?” Ellie frowned. “The more he cries the more he stays awake. If he’s tired, he should go to bed.”

_ If only a three-month-old could understand that logic,  _ Peter lamented to himself.

“It’s hard to fall asleep sometimes,” Wade said diplomatically. Peter thought he heard Gwen mutter something about what was making it difficult for  _ her _ to sleep at the moment, and stifled a chuckle.

Wade stood, shifting Riley so the baby’s head rested on his shoulder. For a moment, he just swayed in place, rocking himself and Riley gently. Peter settled against his pack more comfortably. He knew what came next and it wasn’t short.

Wade had loved to sing to Riley even before he was born. That hadn’t changed with the baby’s arrival; if anything, it encouraged Wade to have a captive audience. Once he got started, Wade would more or less keep serenading Riley until someone told him to stop.

“ _ Estaba la rana sentada cantando debajo del agua- _ “

“Oh! I know this song!” Ellie sat straight up in her bedroll, practically vibrating in place. 

“Oh yeah? Wanna help me sing it?” Wade grinned at her.

_ “Cuando la rana salió a cantar, vino la mosca y la hizo callar!” _

Wade had to slow the song down so Ellie could keep up with the beat, but what she lacked in timing she made up for with enthusiasm. They launched into the second verse easily and then the third.

“I always thought they were eating each other in this song,” Miles said with a grimace before they could start the fourth verse. 

“Why?”

“I dunno.  _ La hizo callar,  _ I guess. Though I guess a fly can’t really eat a frog.” Miles shrugged.

“Maybe because of that song in English,” Gwen offered. “ _ There was an old lady who swallowed a fly… _ ” 

“Wait, Miles, you know this song too?” Wade asked.

“Sort of…” 

“Sing with us, Miles!” Ellie demanded. Miles hesitated, but between Ellie’s puppy-eyes and Riley’s continued crying, he caved quickly.

The three singers made it all the way up through the verse for  _ el perro _ before switching songs. Ellie picked the next one, and luckily it was one Peter knew, even if he didn’t bother joining in.

“ _ Un elefante se balanceaba sobre la tela de una araña! _ ”

Peter glanced over to Gwen, half worried she might be feeling left out if she didn’t know the song. To his surprise, however, she seemed to be listening intently. Peter watched her for a moment as she carefully tried mouthing out the words. The song itself was repetitive and by the time they made it up to  _ cinco elefantes _ , he could hear her cautiously joining in. 

Around ten elephants in the kids began to lose steam. As they each threw in the towel, one by one, Peter began to smile. 

In the absence of their singing, was sweet, sweet silence. Riley was asleep.

—-

Slowly the canyon began to turn south. It happened so gradually that Peter thought he was imagining it at first, but slowly, the canyon grew shallower and shallower until it was only a little gorge, maybe twenty feet at its deepest. Better yet, the children all remembered crossing a river while they’d been in captivity. 

Peter and Wade agreed that it was time to risk trying to make it down to the water. It was dangerous for more than one reason: not only because of the natural dangers a river offered, but also because any source of water was sure to be fiercely contested out here. They couldn’t afford a fight.

It took almost another full day to find a place where there was a sliver of beach beside the river, though they still had to carefully climb down the steep rocky sides of the gorge to get to it. It was only about fifteen feet though and with Wade going first and he and Peter helping the kids down one by one, they made it.

They spent several hours there on the riverbank. They didn’t dare try to swim - who knew how strong the current was? And anyway, there wasn’t anywhere to climb out on the other side. But they sat with their feet in the cool water while Gwen and Wade did their best to improvise fishing lines.

It was hard to wait once they’d refilled their water bottles, but Peter insisted they make sure the iodine tablets did their job before they drank. In the meantime they occupied themselves splashing handfuls of water over each other to wash the worst of the sand and grit from their skin and hair.

Riley had never been submerged in water before and he didn’t seem to know what to make of it. Peter only dipped the baby’s toes in but Riley shrieked all the same. He shrieked again when Peter tried to pull him out. In the end, Wade had more patience for it than Peter did and happily entertained himself and Ellie by bouncing Riley in and out of the water until he got used to it.

Meanwhile, Peter took Miles while he scavenged the plants for anything they could eat. Most of them were ones Peter didn’t recognize. He guessed they were plants that loved the water or the craggy rocks, neither of which were found near May’s house, where Peter had learned to identify plants. 

“If you aren’t one hundred percent sure, don’t eat it,” Peter told Miles firmly. “You can go a long time without food but you’ll get dehydrated if a plant makes you sick. And that’s assuming it doesn’t just kill you.”

They only scrounged up a couple handfuls of roots that Peter felt sure about, but by the time they presented their findings, the iodine had done its job and they were free to drink the water they’d collected. They took turns taking greedy sips from the bottles and crunching the roots. Everything tasted a little like mud, but it was cool and wet so they hardly cared.

A few hours later they’d caught two fish and cooked them up. It only came to a few mouthfuls for each person, but it was the first food that hadn’t come from a packet that any of them had had in a long time.

“Can’t we stay? Just a little while longer?” Miles asked wistfully. Peter shook his head.

“If we found this place, others will too. We need to keep moving.” He said.

“But we’ll get to go in the river again,” Wade promised.  _ Even if it was just to cross it,  _ Peter thought, but didn’t say. Still, even he felt a pang of sorrow when they finally climbed back up the rocks to continue their journey. He’d forgotten how nice it was to not worry about water.

—

Despite Wade’s promise, they were cautious about approaching the river again. They’d met with the road the day after they had stopped at the river. 

While the road was a good sign that they were headed in the right direction, it meant that others traveled this way too. The more likely they were to run into other people, the more cautious they were about approaching the water.

They walked some yards away from the road, the edge of the little gorge just barely in view. Occasionally, Peter or Wade would break from the group to scout along the river. They needed to be careful about choosing a place to ford it, and Peter knew it could take them days, maybe even weeks to find a good spot. Even then, they might not be the only people who realized it was a good place to cross.

Still, in the following days and weeks, they only passed one car. They had all flattened the second Wade heard the engine and it had been a tense few moments while the car flew by them, but either the people in the car didn’t notice them or didn’t care to stop.

They stopped several more times to dip into the river for fish and water and to rinse themselves, but never stayed long.

Slowly the pattern of sleeping and walking and foraging became routine.

\---

“Gwen! Miles! Get down!” Peter hissed as loudly as he dared. 

Miles started to glance around him, trying to see the source of Peter’s panic, but Gwen instantly grabbed Miles’ arm and flattened herself against the ground, pulling Miles with her. Of course, Peter wished Gwen hadn’t had to go through whatever trials left her so hypervigilant all the time, but sometimes he couldn’t help but be glad for her quick reactions and instant obedience. 

“Gwen-” Miles started to ask, but she shushed him quickly, quiet without even having to be told. 

Wade had gotten him and Ellie close to the ground too and they all stared at the road up ahead. 

They were far enough away that it was hard to see. It was frustrating, but if they had trouble seeing the people on the road, the people on the road probably wouldn’t be able to see them either (not pressed flat and unmoving like this). 

It was a heavily armored truck, like the one they’d found the kids in, only much more fortified. The kids must have been able to see the similarities too, because they went from grudgingly obedient to stone-still in a matter of seconds. The truck was stopped in the middle of the road, a number of men standing around it with their guns out. But they weren’t pointing out into the desert, like they expected to be attacked. No, every man was focused intently on the back of the truck. Even from this distance, Peter could see that it shook. Whatever the contents was, it did not seem happy to be confined to the truck. 

Wade carefully disentangled himself from Ellie and crawled up beside Peter, slowly taking his gun off his back. Peter followed suit after carefully passing Riley off to Ellie. Not having Wade beside her seemed to cause the little girl almost as much panic as the sight of the truck. 

“You’re going to take care of him for a minute ok?” Peter whispered to her. “Stay very still and very quiet.”

Ellie reached for the baby almost as though he were a security blanket. Peter wondered if this was good for her, placing this sort of responsibility on her so young. It probably wasn’t, but Ellie seemed to like being bigger and stronger than someone and it seemed like a good way to keep her calm if he and Wade were both occupied.

“It’s okay, baby, don’t be scared, I’m gonna protect you,” Peter heard her whisper to Riley as he crawled back to Wade and positioned his own gun. 

They refocused their attention on the truck, which was shaking violently now. The men braced themselves as the lock on the door finally cracked and shattered.

A roar split the air and Peter stared, trying to understand what he was seeing.

It looked like water, if water were black and opaque, but it didn’t  _ move _ like water. It was too purposeful, too calculated. It swirled and shifted at lightning speed, pouring out of the truck and lashing out at the men with great whip-like tendrils that it absorbed back into itself in the blink of an eye.

“Close your eyes!” Peter barked to the children, finally shaken from his bewilderment when the thing skewered one of the men through the chest. They were too far away to see the blood, but not too far to hear the men screaming. 

Peter didn’t dare take his eyes away long enough to make sure the children obeyed. Fully emerged from the back of the truck, the thing finally coalesced into a firmer shape. It was humanoid, two arms and standing upright on two legs, but the similarities ended there. It’s skin still had that oil-slick black look to it, still rippled like someone had dropped a pebble in water. Two enormous white eyes took in its surroundings. Worst, though, was its mouth. Gaping, red, huge, lined with rows of needle-like teeth, and filled with a huge lolling red tongue. 

Peter felt sweat break out over his skin. He’d never seen anything like it, hadn’t the slightest idea what it even was. 

The men by the truck had gathered themselves and fired openly at the creature, filling the air with cracks and bangs. Over the fire, Peter could hear the creature screaming as it began to writhe again and fight against its captors. Peter found himself, for the first time, wanting the gang to succeed.  _ Kill it, kill it, don’t let it get away, don’t let it near us, don’t let it near our kids. _

But bullets only seemed to enrage the creature. It grabbed another of the men, but instead of skewering him, it shoved the man kicking and screaming in its mouth. The man's screams cut short abruptly when the creature’s jaw snapped shut. The disembodied legs fell to the ground, uneaten. Peter’s stomach churned dangerously.

It began to reach for more, but by now the men had lost their nerve. They darted away to shoot from a distance, spreading themselves thinner and thinner until the thing saw its chance and ran.

It did not run like a human. It ran like a hound, tongue still loling, bounding across the sand away from the truck… bounding toward  _ them. _

Peter felt frozen. What could he possibly do? They couldn’t outrun the thing, they couldn’t fight it- it seemed immune to bullets- but he couldn’t let it  _ eat  _ them. Wade tensed, readying his gun, but he hesitated. If they fired on the monster now and by some miracle they survived the ensuing fight, Weapon X would know their position and they’d be caught. 

Ellie was crying, Peter realized. She must have peeked, she must have seen, because she was sobbing. 

Peter could nearly count the teeth in the creature’s mouth when Riley let loose a thin, high wail. Dread pooled in his stomach,  _ not Riley, please not Riley _ , but the creature skidded to a stop. 

Riley didn’t stop. He howled his displeasure, probably at Ellie squeezing him too tightly in her fear. Peter wanted to turn and take the baby back but he didn’t dare look away from the monster. 

It was  _ squirming _ , Peter realized in confusion. It hadn’t just stopped, it was pawing at its ears in discomfort. It gave another roar of disapproval, but the loud noise only made Riley cry harder. The creature keened, bared its teeth, and then turned on its heels and fled back the way it had come. 

They lay absolutely still as it fled straight back into the arms of the recovered Weapon X agents. 

When they were sure both parties were preoccupied with the fight, Peter and Wade scrambled to their feet. Peter grabbed Riley and Wade scooped Ellie up onto his shoulders. The older kids were already standing, and ran the instant Peter gave them the signal.

They didn’t bother trying to pace themselves. If Weapon X saw them, then they saw them. They were too busy dealing with whatever that monster was to chase them down now. The more distance they could put between them and that  _ thing _ , the better.

They ran until Miles all but collapsed from exhaustion. Peter and Gwen were not far behind him, in all honesty, though only Miles lost his stomach over it. Even then, they walked for several more hours before they dared to stop.

Ellie and Riley has fallen asleep in their arms, but no one even proposed sleep for the rest of them when they finally did stop.

“What  _ was _ that?” Gwen asked finally, shakily.

Peter and Wade exchanged looks.

“I don’t know…”


	5. The River

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: references to drowning, extremely brief sedation, kidnapping/captivity, humiliation, nudity, sexual harassment (verbal), potentially ooc attitudes from Peter about killing, brief harm to a baby

They didn’t see the creature again and it took them a long time to wander back to the road.

Peter was quite sure that they must have veered off track by now after following the canyon south for so long, but it couldn’t be helped. They needed to find a safe place to ford the river, even if that meant walking miles and miles to find one. This would all be for nothing if the river claimed any of them now.

Peter was still unhappy, even when they finally managed to find a place shallow enough to ford. Truthfully, it looked far too well-traveled for comfort.  The gorge was shallow here, less than ten feet down to the river, with a wide strip of beach.  The road forked, one fork continuing south along the edge of the river and the other veering west into the water.  Concrete rubble, still with rusted bits of metal poking out, littered both sides of the river. From the way the current was disturbed, Peter guessed there was more rubble hidden under the water. There must have been a bridge here once. 

Peter didn't like it, but it had taken them so long to find. It could be weeks before they found another spot this good to cross, and there was no guarantee that the next place would be any more abandoned. This was their best bet, and he knew it.

At any rate, the piles of broken concrete made plenty of hand and footholds to climb down. Even Ellie only needed a little help to make it down to the sand. 

They broke for lunch while they considered how to proceed. The river was wide here, but Peter hoped it was shallow, based on how gradually the sand melted into it. It would be tricky if it got too deep for Ellie to walk.

The kids didn’t seem to mind, but Peter felt exposed here, like they were practically inviting someone to attack them. He still hadn’t gotten that monster out of his head either. Sure,  _ that  _ one must have been caught, but what if there were more? The longer they waited, the more chances they gave someone - or something - to find them unawares.

The more pressing problem, of course, was that Peter and Wade couldn’t swim. They hadn’t asked the children if any of them knew, but Peter would have been surprised if they did. Where would any of them have learned? There was nowhere so rich with water that they could afford to splash around in it for  _ fun.  _ And out here, deep water just meant worse fighting between people trying to claim the resource.

Still, despite the urgency, Peter was hesitant to step into the water. He didn’t like knowing that there wasn’t much he could do to help himself if he lost his footing. 

There really was only one way to do this and Wade grimaced as he turned to Peter to pitch the idea.

“No, I know,” Peter said unhappily before Wade even opened his mouth. “I don’t like it, but I get it. Go on then.”

“Cheeky,” Wade gave him a wry smile. “Maybe I was going to suggest  _ you  _ go first, hm?”

“Were you?” Peter raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“No,” Wade chuckled. Peter shifted Riley to one hip and wrapped his free arm around Wade’s waist.

“Be careful,” he told him. 

Ellie pulled a face when they kissed, but Wade just ruffled her hair when they stepped apart and pulled the straps of his pack tighter across his chest. Then he stepped into the river.

Wade would be able to tell them how deep the river was once he’d crossed and they could figure out how to get the kids across from there. With any luck, it would be shallow enough for Miles and Gwen to walk.

The water swelled around Wade’s knees, then his thighs, then his waist. Peter could see the deep lines etched into the water’s surface as the current tugged at Wade. Step. Step. Step.

“Oh fu-“ was all Wade got out before his feet slipped from under him and he plunged under the water. It might have been funny. In fact, Peter thought he heard at least one of the kids laugh, but suddenly Peter couldn’t breathe. 

_ He shouldn’t have let Wade go alone, he shouldn’t have trusted that he’d be fine just because he was an Alpha, he shouldn’t have left him behind on that rooftop— _

“Wade!” Peter ran into the water without thinking, Riley still clutched in his arms. “Wa-“

The rocks were slippery. That must have been what sent Wade tumbling. But Peter was only knee-deep when he tripped. He and Riley were soaked in an instant, the baby shrieking at being dunked so unexpectedly. 

“Baby!” Ellie cried, hurrying into the water to tug at Peter’s sleeve in an attempt to help. Peter forced himself to crawl back out of the river.

He could have cried just as pitifully as Riley. Why was he always doing this? Why was he always leading Wade into danger? Always letting Wade get hurt for the sake of ‘the greater good’? Logically, Peter understood why, but for a moment he didn’t care. He felt like that same version of himself that had watched Wade fall to his apparent death a little more than a year ago. 

Then Wade’s head bobbed to the surface, maybe a hundred yards down. He was too far away to hear, but he waved and the vice on Peter’s heart loosened an inch. The gesture seemed too much, and Wade sank under again, but Peter could see now where he bobbed back up, even further down the river. 

Peter would  _ not _ call it swimming. Wade didn’t look like he had an ounce of control over where he was going. If Peter had to guess, he’d say Wade was just kicking off from the bottom of the river every time he got the chance in order to break the surface. He didn’t look like he was able to get his feet under him at all, and the weight of his soaked pack must be dragging him down as well. Peter cringed remembering how Wade had tightened the straps before he’d stepped in. There would be no wriggling out of it.

As much as Peter wanted to interpret the wave as a call for help and dive back into the water, he knew he couldn’t.

“He’s gone,” Ellie said tearfully. She was drenched too, Peter noticed. At that moment she looked so much like she had when Peter had first met her, crying that Wade was dead, that he had to force himself to take deep breaths.

“He’ll be back,” Peter assured her. That’s what the wave had been. ‘Stay there. Don’t come to me, I’ll come to you.’ “It just might take a little while.”

—

Peter didn’t really like the spot by the river, unable to shake the feeling of being exposed, but he didn’t dare take the kids anywhere else. What if Wade wasn’t able to find them again if they moved? Those months he’d spent separated from Wade were still too fresh in Peter’s memory to risk it. 

Even this short separation was testing Peter more than he’d thought it would. He had told Tony once that he wasn’t one of those clingy Omegas that couldn’t function without their mate, but the truth was that he and Wade hadn’t spent a night apart since that awful night in the desert before Natasha had found them all those months ago. And the time before that, he’d thought Wade was dead. In the past year, being separated from Wade had meant that one or both of them were in serious peril. No wonder it set Peter’s nerves alight.

He also hadn’t realized just how much of the childcare Wade had been taking on. It seemed that if any of the children needed something, they tended to ask Wade since Peter was so preoccupied with Riley. Peter had never noticed for that exact reason; Riley needed so much attention that everything else was muted in comparison.

Over and over, Peter reminded himself that Wade  _ would _ come back, that he wouldn’t have to do this alone for very long. Even one night as a single parent was more work than Peter ever could have imagined.

Still, they survived the afternoon without incident. When night fell, Peter felt guilty for it but he roped Gwen into taking a short shift as lookout. Peter would have done the entire night, but he didn’t trust himself to stay alert or awake that long, and Gwen was easily the most vigilant of the three kids.

The morning dawned without any major catastrophe, but also without any sign of Wade. By the afternoon, the novelty of the water was wearing off and the children were growing restless. Peter understood, but he still couldn’t move them. Not without Wade. 

Peter would miss the boredom when, not long after, their ears caught the distant rumbling of a car. From how quiet it was, Peter guessed he had maybe a minute to decide what to do. 

“Get under cover and don’t come out no matter what you hear,” he said quickly, locking eyes with each of the kids in turn. There were places in the concrete rubble that they could wiggle into, or maybe lie flat in the foliage along the river. “No matter what, understand?”

He didn’t have time to see if they agreed with him. He secured Riley to his chest and pulled on his pack. At the last moment he scooped up some mud smeared it into his face and hair. The more pathetic and less appealing he could look right now, the better.

Peter quickly climbed back up the stones to the main road and sat as lump-ishly as he could, looking at the river. If it was just another traveler, they would probably ignore him, since he obviously wasn’t a threat. If it was poachers, he would hopefully be too bedraggled for them to bother with. Either way, they probably wouldn’t think that he had more children hidden away nearby. 

The only problem was Riley. Peter wished he could have hidden the baby as well, but the risk of him crying and giving away his hiding place was too great. Better to be upfront about having an infant and hope that it was someone who would see the baby as a reason to leave them alone.

And then the rumble of the car was loud in his ears, close enough to have seen him.  _ Please keep going _ , he thought,  _ please keep going. _

They did not keep going.

It was a pick up truck, Peter realized as it slowed to a stop beside him. He turned to look at it and there it was, painted on the door: that stupid jagged X. Peter tried not to let his panic show on his face. Would these people be looking for them? Wade and Riley must be pretty valuable to Weapon X if the effort they’d put into destroying Natasha’s house was anything to go by. How much would these guys know about the search? How wide was the area they were searching? Was a search even still going on?

Peter suddenly wished that he’d left Riley hidden when he had the chance. If they  _ were  _ looking for them, they’d be looking for an Alpha-Omega couple with a young baby. 

“Hey there, little Omega,” one of the men called in what he probably thought was a charming manner. Peter turned to face him anyway where he leaned out the window. “Oo, Mama Omega, sorry.”

“Where’s your Alpha, mama?” One asked from the backseat.

“Fishing.” Peter replied evenly.

“Really? We haven’t seen anyone for miles,” the first one grinned.

“He went the other way,” Peter said, pointing in the opposite direction from where they’d come.

“What’s your name?”

“Ben.” Peter said without missing a beat. A third man, the driver, leaned toward the open window. He, unlike his companions, was not smiling.

“Put down your gun, Ben.” He said softly. Peter hesitated. He didn’t want to be any more defenseless than he already felt. The driver sighed and opened his door. The others followed suit. There was a fourth man that Peter hadn’t noticed because he’d been so quiet.

“Put down your gun.” The driver said again. He didn’t sound angry. He didn’t even sound all that invested, which almost made Peter more unnerved. Were they anything to this man? Or were they just animals, things he didn’t really care if he killed or not? 

Peter set down his rifle.

“Now kick it toward us.” The instructions were in that same oddly detached voice. Peter balked at the idea, but what choice did he have? A four to one fight was not going to go in his favor. 

Peter obeyed, clamping down on his anger and his panic. They could have the gun as long as they left.

“And the pack. Move slowly. Hands where we can see them.”

The pack was much harder to part with. It held  _ everything _ . The last of their rations, their first aid kit, their fire starters, their iodine, the rope they used to rig up blankets into shelter… Peter forced himself to obey. They could survive without it. Probably. Especially if any of Wade’s supplies survived his dip into the river. 

One of the men rummaged through the pack and seemed satisfied that there was enough worth taking that he chucked it into the backseat. The driver, meanwhile, examined the rifle.

Suddenly, Peter’s heart stopped as he remembered.  _ Tony  _ had made it for him. It wasn’t just a gun, it was a blaster. It didn’t use anything like bullets and it was terribly, horribly, unique.

The driver seemed to realize it at the same time and for the first time he gave a slow smirk.

“Where’d you get this, Ben?” He asked casually. Peter’s voice dried up in his throat. He couldn’t think of a convincing lie fast enough and by now the fear would be creeping into his scent and he still hadn’t said anything and the driver gave a satisfied little nod.

Peter bolted. He feinted left then skid right, slipping between the edge of the gorge and one of the men, but not quite fast enough. A hand snatched his wrist, throwing him off balance, and Peter writhed. He thought of Natasha. He thought of her voice drilling him over and over how to twist like a snake to make it impossible to hold on to him. He broke the man’s grasp but another one had seized his arm. Peter clawed at the man’s face, drawing blood, and the man howled, swatting at him.

“Get off of him!” 

Peter’s heart sank.

“Peter!” 

His cheek stung from where he’d been struck. He grabbed one of the fingers of the man who’d hit him and yanked hard until he heard a crack. It was easier than he’d thought it would be. Like snapping a carrot. But he couldn’t enjoy the victory, as another set of hands grabbed for him.

“Miles!” 

The arm looped around Peter’s throat, coming dangerously close to hitting Riley in their attempt to incapacitate Peter. Peter kicked as hard as he could, looking for toes to smash or kneecaps to crack. He only found a shin, but the man gasped and dropped Peter anyway when he slammed his foot into it.

Peter turned, ready to keep fighting, and was forced to stop short.

The driver had Miles by the neck. He didn’t even have a gun, just a hand around Mike’s neck and another gripping the boy’s face and a look of absolute determination. Nearby, Gwen was thrashing in another man’s hold. She was like a wild thing, howling and writhing, but she was small. The man holding her bore scratches on his face, but he didn’t let go. Peter barely looked at her, locking eyes with the driver.

The man could snap Miles’ neck. He knew it, Peter knew it, and the instant Peter stopped, he knew that Peter knew too. And he must know that Peter wouldn’t risk it.

The hands seized him again, twisting his arms up behind his back, wrenching a scream from him and forcing him to his knees.

“There you go,” the driver said softly, “Nice and easy.”

Peter bared his teeth, but the sharp jab of a needle stole his ferocity before he could act on it. He tried to fight it, but really, what was the point? There was nothing he could do that wouldn’t put Miles and Gwen in danger. 

In those thick, nearly delirious moments before unconsciousness, Peter hoped they’d let him slump onto his back. He didn’t want to crush Riley.

—

When Peter woke, he thought for a moment that he was back at Natasha’s. The room was cool and dim and he was used to sleeping on the packed earth. Wade must have stolen all the blankets, that must be why he was cold.

Peter sat upright with a gasp. He was naked. And he was alone. 

Peter’s head began to buzz as the panic set in. Riley wasn’t with him. He didn’t know where Riley was. The scream began to build in Peter’s throat before he had even registered it.

“Riley!  _ Riley!” _ Peter leapt to his feet. He was in a cell. It was spacious, all things considered, probably an eight by eight foot square. Three of the walls were solid rock, the fourth blocked by metal bars. 

Peter ran at these, rattling them, pressing his face against them to see as far as he could in either direction. 

“Riley!” Riley’s familiar crying was nowhere to be heard. Peter gave a wordless shout and pulled at the bars with all his strength, but of course, it was useless.

“Peter!”

“Miles! Gwen!” He couldn’t tell for sure over the sound of his own heart racing in his ears, but he thought Miles might have been crying. “Where are you?”

“Down here!” Peter craned his neck trying to see, but he couldn’t. All he could tell was that his cell was just one in a hallway of cells. Gwen and Miles must be nearby though, for him to hear them so easily.

“Are you alright?” Peter called, swallowing hard. He needed to take stock of the situation. He couldn’t afford to lose his head completely yet.

“We’re ok,” Gwen called back.

“They took all our stuff though.” Miles added. “Even our clothes.”

For a moment Peter couldn’t speak. It was one thing for them to leave  _ him _ nude. Whatever reason they had for it - humiliation, or to stop him from hanging himself with whatever he could make from his clothes, or to keep him weak from cold, or even something darker - at least Peter was an adult. Gwen and Miles were just kids. They wouldn’t be strong enough to pose a threat even if they were set loose in the facility! To keep them exposed… it was cruel. 

_ Of course, it was cruel, these were the same people who did everything to Wade, _ he scolded himself, he shouldn’t be surprised.

“Ellie?” Peter asked, trying even harder to keep his temper under control.

“She’s not here,” Gwen told him.  _ That was probably a good thing _ , Peter tried to console himself. Wade would get back to her soon enough and she’d be ok.

“Riley?” He knew he should be strong for the kids, but his voice shook.

“I don’t know,” said Miles, “They took him somewhere else when we got here.”

Peter was very quiet for a moment, breathing hard. Could he handle the reality that someone had  _ stolen _ his kid right off his chest and there was nothing he could do about it?

No, apparently, he couldn’t.

“Bastards! Goddamn sadistic assholes! Get down here, you cowards! Give me my pup!” Peter hit the bars, hard, trying to get the loudest sound he could out of them. “You hear me? Give! Him! Back!”

“Stop…” 

At first, Peter didn’t hear the new voice and continued to whale on the bars of his cell like his life depended on it.

“ _ Stop, _ ” the voice pleaded, cracking as though in agony. Peter paused long enough to seek out the source.

The cell across from his was not empty, like he’d thought. There was someone in there, curled against the very back wall. They had been so silent and so still that Peter hadn’t noticed them initially. They had barely moved now, only curled further in on themself with their hands clasped tight over their ears.

Peter guessed it was a man, but who knew, and he couldn’t gather much more information than that. His smell was all tangled up; he didn’t smell like any Alpha, Omega, or Beta that Peter had ever met, and he certainly didn’t smell like a Delta. If anything, he smelled like something else, something completely alien that Peter couldn’t explain.

Besides that, he had close cropped hair and he was naked like the rest of them. His skin was pale, though much of it was covered in bruises and badly healing puncture marks. Peter couldn’t even tell his age, because he kept his face buried in his arms.

Something about him made Peter’s skin crawl. It was irrational, but he didn’t seem quite human to Peter.

Then Peter looked away. He didn’t have time for that. His baby was missing. Without a moment’s hesitation, Peter started up his screaming and banging again.

“Give me back my pup! Cowards!  _ Cowards!  _ He’s just a baby! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you who even looked at him!”

Twice he heard Miles and Gwen trying to calm him, but Peter wouldn’t be calmed. His world narrowed down to the sole purpose of screaming insults at the people who’d done this.

He was so focused on his goal that when two  _ clothed  _ men appeared, Peter almost didn’t know what to do. He stopped abruptly, scrambling back away from the bars on instinct. He was out of breath, he realized, and his throat ached from screaming. He’d dropped into a crouch without thinking and he could feel the growl building in his throat as they unlocked a door in the bars. It swung open, but rather than step into the cell, the men stayed by the opening. 

They whistled to him like they were calling a cat. Curiosity tugged at Peter alongside his fear. Maybe he could break away from them, find Riley, or at the very least start learning the layout of wherever they were. 

“Come on,” they called, when Peter didn’t respond to the whistling. They weren’t even angry. Just patronizing. “Good boy. Come on. Don’t you wanna see your pup?”

The effect was instant. Peter knew they could be lying. He knew it could be a trap. But if it wasn’t- if they really would take him to Riley- Peter couldn’t risk losing the opportunity. 

They grabbed him the instant he was within reach. There weren’t any handcuffs, just the painful twisting of his arms up behind his back, keeping him bent over and tripping over his feet to keep them from dislocating his shoulders. He should be paying attention to where they were going. He should be doing everything he could to memorize every detail of his surroundings, but he couldn’t. He was single-minded and he knew he would be until he’d seen his cub. 

They led him up stairs and down hallways and through a series of rooms. Occasionally they passed other clothed people. Some wore full-body suits like Wade’s and carried guns, others wore lab coats and carried clipboards. None of them mattered. 

Finally, a door swung open and there he was. Peter gave a wordless shout and the guards stopped trying to hold onto him. Peter stumbled into the room, his vision narrowing to the little baby placed on one of the tables. 

Riley was naked, like the rest of them, and screaming his head off. Peter recognized the scale they’d placed him on from Strange’s visits. It looked like a long metal oval, with the two long sides curved up on either side of the baby to keep him from rolling off. All Peter could think of though was how cold the metal must be against Riley’s bare skin. They had taped several little nodes to the baby as well. Some were connected to wires leading to whirring, beeping machines that Peter didn’t recognize. 

Peter ran to him and clung to the sides of the little scale while his eyes scanned to see if he could lift Riley without hurting him. None of the nodes seemed to be subcutaneous (though there was a distinctly swollen pink spot on one arm), and Peter scooped the baby up into his arms. The machines beeped loudly at the change and Peter thought he might have heard someone in the background complaining that he’d disrupted them, but he didn’t care. He had Riley. 

The baby didn’t stop crying, but his chubby hands opened and closed against Peter’s skin, like he was trying to hold on, and when Peter lifted him, Riley shoved his face against Peter’s neck while he wailed. 

Peter was crying too, he realized after a moment. He was trembling, the only thing steady about him was his grip on Riley, which probably verged on being too tight. He was furious. These people had his baby on display like he was a specimen, they had him wired to half a dozen monitors to  _ study  _ him, but they’d left him cold and naked and crying without a second thought. They were going to keep doing it too, and worse, probably, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Anything he tried would only get himself killed and then what use would he be to Riley? 

The door they had entered through opened again. Peter hugged Riley tighter to his chest as he turned, pressing back against the table.

It was a man. His hair was shaved so short that Peter could see his pale scalp through the fuzz. He was tall, taller than Wade, but not nearly as broad. He wore a bulletproof vest and carried a pair of handguns holstered to his waist. Peter instantly disliked him.

“Don’t-“ Peter warned, hating how his voice trembled. The man merely rolled his eyes. He stared at Peter expectantly for a moment.

“Well, go on then,” he said. Peter felt frozen. What was he supposed to be doing? Was this an invitation to try to escape for this man’s entertainment? Peter wouldn’t do it. What would happen to Miles and Gwen if he did?

“Why am I here?” Peter asked finally.

“Who better to wean it than the one that whelped it,” the man said flippantly, glancing at Riley. “Go on.”

Peter had never been self conscious about breastfeeding his own child, but somehow he didn’t want this man to watch. He hesitated.

“We haven’t got anything else to feed it.” The man said bluntly. “By all means, keep stalling if you want to get milked like a cow.”

The suggestion made Peter’s face flush with anger and humiliation, but he didn’t doubt the truth of it. He felt certain that they would make good on the threat if Peter didn’t cooperate.

Peter turned away, stroked the top of Riley’s head and offered him a breast. The baby latched on and Peter continued to stroke his hair, his cheeks, the backs of his little hands. Anything to ignore their voyeur. But the man was not to be ignored.

“So this is Deadpool’s bitch,” he mused. Peter’s head snapped up, glaring at him.

“Don’t call him that,” Peter said bitterly. Wade was still terrified of the things he’d done as Deadpool. Peter still had yet to convince him that ‘Deadpool’ wasn’t his fault, that it wasn’t who he was, that he really was Wade at his core. 

“Ooh, little Omega’s got some bite.” He jeered. “Still defending him even with a face like that? I don’t think I could take it. I’d probably throw up every time I saw him. But you stick around. Are you scared of what he’d do if you left? Is that why you’re still here?”

“ _ No! _ ” Peter snapped, rising to the bait before he could catch himself. He didn’t know how this man knew Wade, but he knew he didn’t want Wade’s name - even his pseudonym- in his filthy mouth. He didn’t deserve to say it. He didn’t deserve to say anything about Wade.

“So that’s your kink? Freaks and monsters? I think you’ll like it here then.” The man smirked. Why was he still talking? Had he come here specifically to taunt Peter? What was even the point? Peter began to growl and the man held up his hands placatingly. “Ah-ah-ah, no worries. I know you’re attached to your special freak. Don’t worry, we’ll find him soon and then we can have a nice family reunion.”

“You won’t find him.” Peter said with as much venom as he could muster.

“Doesn’t matter,” the man said with a shrug. “He’ll come to us as long as you two are here. He as good as said so.”

Peter’s heart sank. He knew it was true. If their situations had been reversed, if it were  _ Wade  _ and Riley trapped down here, Peter knew he’d never rest until he got them back or died trying. Wade would do the exact same for him, but Wade couldn’t die. If they caught him again… 

Peter blinked hard, trying not to think about the agony it would put Wade through to be back here with these people. He hated that he might be the reason Wade came back to this awful place. 

Just then, Riley pulled his mouth away from Peter’s chest and began crying again. Peter moved to soothe him, but found himself suddenly beset upon by at least half a dozen people. There were underlings with their latex gloved hands tugging Riley away from him and the same set of guards grabbing his arms and dragging him back.

Peter  _ screamed.  _ He let his weight sag in the guards’ grip and when that didn’t slow them down, began writhing and kicking. 

“Stop! Please! Don’t! Don’t take him away! Please!” Peter shrieked. The man in the bullet proof vest held up a hand and the guards stopped, but they did not let go of Peter. He howled, lashing out in any way he could to get out of their grip.

Suddenly another scream cut through the air, shaking Peter to his core.

“Riley! Riley! Stop!  _ Stop! _ ” Peter begged. Tears streamed down his face but he didn’t care. He’d never heard Riley make a sound like that, not once, not even at his most miserable. He’d give anything never to have to hear it again, to stop whatever it was that wrenched such a sound from him. 

Peter went limp in the guards’ hold and immediately the scream stopped as well, devolving into the familiar crying Peter was used to. Peter was nearly choking on his own sobs by then.

“Bastards.  _ Bastards. _ What did you do to him?” He demanded. The man looked at him with detached interest.

“Chipped him.” The man said simply. “So we’ll always be able to keep an eye on him. And to give you an incentive to cooperate.”

Any thought that Peter had had of devising an escape attempt shattered. Peter didn’t know how to find the chip or how to remove it safely. Even if he managed to get them out, Weapon X would be able to track them with frightening accuracy since there was no way Peter would ever let the pup out of his sight again if they ever escaped. And if-  _ when _ they were caught again, what would they do to Riley? What would they put the little baby through just to teach Peter his lesson?

“Please,” Peter’s voice cracked. “Please let me stay with him. Please don’t take my cub away. Please don’t hurt him.”

Peter was begging. He’d never had to beg for anything like this before and he hated it, he hated throwing himself at the mercy of such a cruel man, but he didn’t know what else to do. The man tapped his chin thoughtfully before shaking his head with a little smile.

“Not today, I’m afraid.”

Peter  _ wailed _ . He let himself rag doll completely as the guards dragged him from the room. Peter craned his neck, trying to burn the image of Riley into his mind, but then the door slammed shut between them.

By the time the guards returned him to his cell, Peter was hysterical. He didn’t fight them physically, but as soon as the door shut and locked behind him, Peter all but collapsed. He screamed. He beat his fists against the ground. He begged everyone and everything he could think of to just give him back his child. He sobbed himself senseless. 

Through it all, he could hear Miles and Gwen calling to him, begging to know what had happened, if he was alright. And underneath their frantic shouts were the pained moans of the man in the cell opposite Peter’s. He pleaded for Peter to stop, to be quiet, that he couldn’t stand the noise, that Peter was hurting them, but Peter couldn’t hear any of them. All he could hear was that agonized shriek playing over and over in his mind.


	6. The Cage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: humiliation, slightly ableist language, discussions of human experimentation (including on children), references to torture (no explicit torture), sexual harassment (verbal), potentially OOC attitudes toward violence/killing from Peter, mention of needles, illness, vomit mention, discussions of death,

Food in the facility was bland porridge. Peter had eaten something similar for breakfast nearly everyday of his life growing up, but this was different. Since it was the  _ only _ food they received, he suspected that it was fortified somehow to keep them all alive. Or, at least, alive  _ enough.  _

They weren’t given any utensils either. No knife, obviously, but no fork or spoon either. The food was served in a shallow metal bowl and their only option was to slurp the porridge up off the sides or scoop it up with their bare hands. It was so humiliating that Peter was tempted to go on a hunger strike just to spite them, but he couldn’t. Riley was still relying on him for sustenance.

The bowls were all collected promptly ten minutes after the food was distributed. Once, Peter had been late to return his bowl and it had resulted in a great deal of shouting. One of the guards produced a small remote and waved it in Peter’s face threateningly. 

Peter threw the bowl at them so fast that he nearly tripped in his haste. He didn’t need them to explain what the remote triggered. He already knew. 

The man in the cell across from Peter’s barely moved. He didn’t even acknowledge the food sometimes, which bewildered Peter to no end.

He was definitely crazy. That much was obvious. Peter didn’t know what had happened to the man to leave him like this, vacant and extremely sensitive to noise, but it couldn’t have been good. He frightened Peter a little; not because he was afraid of the man himself, but the possible future that he represented. Peter knew that it wouldn’t take much for them to break _him_ just the same way.

—

The first two days were almost uneventful. The time was broken up by the guards arriving to bring Peter upstairs to feed Riley at regular intervals. He was always crying whenever Peter saw him, and Peter was never able to stay long enough to comfort him. Sometimes the man in the bullet proof vest was there, sometimes he wasn’t.

“Who  _ are _ you?” Peter demanded eventually. The man smiled and introduced himself as Ajax. Peter realized immediately that he didn’t care. The name meant nothing to him.

Sometimes Ajax spoke to him. The conversation (if one could call Ajax’s monologue a conversation) almost always centered around Wade. Peter didn’t understand it, didn’t understand why Ajax was so obsessed, but he wished he didn’t have to listen. 

Sometimes it was just insults, just spouting every vile thing about Wade that he seemed to be able to think of. Other times it was about plans and promises of everything Ajax hoped to do  _ when  _ they were able to recapture Wade. Of the two, the second option was worse. Peter knew that Ajax’s insults were just slander. He hated hearing it, but he knew they were untrue. The plans, however, Peter felt sure Ajax would at least attempt to carry out: all the ways he planned to test Wade’s immortality, to test what exactly he was able to revive from, what they might be able to do with samples of him, what they could use him for when his ability to be a lab rat was worn out. 

These made Peter’s stomach churn, but by far the worst was the promises of what would happen to  _ them. _ If things went well with this brat, Ajax told him, they’d make sure he and Wade were allowed conjugal visits. One immortal weapon was a good enough incentive, what might they be able to do with two? Or four? Or however many whelps Peter could bear before his body gave out? 

A second unspoken threat lurked under these words. If he and Riley did  _ not _ perform well during the coming tests, there would be no further use for them. What was worse? Knowing that death was certain for any child that failed? Or knowing a life devoid of any kindness or humanity awaited any that succeeded? 

Peter wasn’t given time to dwell on the answer. Trials began soon after.

When Wade had first escaped Weapon X, he had barely been able to speak about the things they put him through. Soon, Peter understood why.

Peter felt quite sure that he and Riley’s tests were much milder compared to Wade’s; Riley was too young to push too far without killing and they needed to keep Peter in enough shape to continue to feed him. Realizing how much worse it must have been for his Alpha made Peter feel as though his chest were caving in.

Heat trials. Cold trials. Water trials. Blood letting trials. Any deprivation they could think of that Peter might still be able to walk away from at the end of the day. What was even the point? Peter wasn’t Wade. He didn’t have any latent abilities waiting to be forced out of him. And what would happen when they finally realized that these trials would never produce any results?

It only took a few days for Peter to feel certain he was losing his mind. If it had just been him, he might have been able to handle it. But it wasn’t just him. They were hurting his baby over and over and each time they dragged him back to that room and he had to see the evidence of some fresh hurt that he’d been unable to prevent, Peter felt himself slip a little further. He didn’t even know what to say to Miles and Gwen when they called to him from their cells.

When he was younger, Peter had thought he’d hated the scavengers who killed his uncle. Then, when he was a teenager and everything had happened with Harry, Peter had thought he hated Norman Osborn. He realized now that he was wrong. He hated Weapon X. He hated Ajax. It was all he could think about. He would hurt them, if he was ever given the chance, kill them probably. He’d never been one for violence but now fantasizing about all the ways he would kill his captors was the only thing waiting for him when he closed his eyes. 

There were only two bright spots in the entire situation. First, they seemed uninterested in Miles and Gwen. Second, they hadn’t caught Wade yet. Peter felt certain that Ajax would have been quick to rub it in his face if they had Wade in custody. He wouldn’t be able to resist. If he hadn’t heard anything, then Wade was still out there, Peter felt sure of it.

How he was faring out there was an entirely different question and Peter tried hard not to think about it. Wade was free. That would have to be enough.

—

It was easy to lose track of time in the facility. Peter had spent the entire time underground since they’d arrived. The lights in the labs, in their cells, never changed. The only real way to mark the passage of time was by when the guards brought their food. This wasn’t actually any help, since Peter didn’t know how many meals they were served in a single day.

So Peter didn’t know how long they’d been there when the buzz of excitement began running through the team experimenting on them. They’d gotten something new to play with. Peter didn’t know what. Not a person, he suspected, but other than that he was clueless.

He was sure that he was about to find out when the guards came down to collect him as usual. Only, they didn’t stop in front of his cell. Peter watched in horror as they continued down the line. He heard the key turning in the lock, but he felt frozen because  _ surely _ there was nothing they could want from the kids.

“Gwen!” It was somewhere between a plea and a shout. Miles sounded on the verge of tears. “Gwen!”

Peter pressed himself to the bars, craning his neck to see.

“What are you doing?” He demanded. He could feel the panic rising in his chest. “Stop. Stop, I’m right here! I’m right here!”

Because they  _ must _ have made a mistake, they must be coming for Peter. 

“I’m here, take me!” He shouted. He hadn’t known that he still had any outrage left. He’d thought they’d already done everything they possibly could to hurt him, short of killing anyone. 

Instead, he could do nothing but listen to the click of a key in a second door and Miles’ surprised gasp as they pulled him out too.

The guards wasted no time escorting them out.

“Stop it! Stop! They’re just kids! They’re just kids, take me!” Peter beat his fists against the bars to get their attention, but he was ignored. “Miles! Gwen!”

Peter didn’t know what it meant that they didn’t even bother threatening him with Riley’s damn remote. Was he really so weak? Did he really pose so little threat to them that he was not even worth silencing? 

Peter held his breath as they marched Miles and Gwen past his cell. It was the first time he’d seen them since they’d been taken and Peter felt like he should say something to bolster them, to encourage them to endure whatever was to come, but Peter couldn’t think of anything. He held his breath as they passed, wracking his brain for anything he could do to make the guards change course.

There was nothing. And then they were gone.

Peter sat in his cell, stunned. He felt utterly invisible. It was finally beginning to sink in, just how insignificant he was to these people. There had been some part of him that assumed Weapon X felt  _ something _ about him based on his connection to Wade, but they really didn’t, did they? He was bait for his Alpha, he was food for his cub, he was a body to be experimented on. If Ajax was to be believed, he might become some sick sort of incubator to churn out new people for them to experiment on.

But it wasn’t  _ important _ . Peter had thought that maybe all of that gave him some bargaining power, that perhaps he could trade his cooperation for favors. It was a stupid idea. Everything Peter did for them could be replicated. Riley alone was just as good bait for Wade, they could figure out a formula to feed Riley, and they could kidnap new test subjects from the world outside. It was really only convenience - the fact that he could provide all of these things in one neat package - that kept him alive. There was nothing he could do for Gwen and Miles.

In the cell across from his, the mad man began rocking himself gently back and forth, whispering. He did this sometimes, though Peter could never really understand what he said. Just the one letter. “V”.

Peter thought that if they didn’t bring the kids back soon, he might join him in his crazed incoherent state.

—

He didn’t have to wait long. They returned Gwen and Miles to their cells less than an hour later and Peter nearly cried with relief. Although, to be fair, everything seemed to make him cry these days. 

Peter reached through the bars to touch them as they passed, desperate for some confirmation that they were ok, but a guard slapped his hand away. At least they looked ok. Shaken, to be certain, but unbruised, unbloodied, clean and dry. Peter didn’t know if he could hope for much more than that.

He waited for the guards to leave so he could ask Miles and Gwen what had happened, what Weapon X had wanted with them, but he didn’t get the chance. As soon as Gwen and Miles were returned to their cells, the guards came for him. 

Peter wanted to snap at them. They wouldn’t take him before, when he’d been begging them to, but they’d take him now, when he didn’t want to go? Bastards. Peter didn’t have the fight left in him to say any of it. What would even happen if he did? They’d probably ignore him, or take it out on Riley if they didn’t.

Peter felt tired down to his bones as he let them pull him from his cell yet again.

At first, the routine remained the same. The guards deposited him in the lab where Riley was kept. By now, with so little care given to him, Riley was beginning to stink from going so long without being cleaned. Peter held him tight to his chest and let him nurse and begged, yet again, to be allowed to stay. Just to care for the little pup, just to clean him and feed him and keep him warm. His pleas were met with silence, but at least Ajax was not there to taunt him.

They didn’t let him stay long. They never did. Peter had given up fighting to stay with Riley and instead let himself go limp when they decided the pup had had enough. This apathy was the best protest he could manage right now.

He was not returned to his cell, however. Instead, he was taken to a now familiar lab. Normally, Peter had been able to guess what torment they’d devised to test him with, but today there was only a chair, a scientist, and Ajax. So this was where he’d been. 

Peter didn’t look at him as they arranged him in the chair. Leather cords strapped his arms to the chair, which Peter thought was a little excessive at this point. They knew he wouldn’t run; he couldn’t leave Riley or the others behind. And he couldn’t fight them without them retaliating by hurting Riley, so what was the point? The point, Peter guessed, was that Ajax probably got off on it. Whatever.

He watched dully as the scientist prepared a syringe on a tray by the wall. Ajax folded his arms impatiently. Peter knew by now that ignoring him was the best way to get under his skin so he pretended to be completely absorbed in watching the scientist until Ajax truly demanded his attention.

“Well?” Ajax sneered, when he finally got sick of waiting for Peter’s attention. Peter turned his head to him slowly, gazing at him with blank eyes. “Don’t you want to know what’s in the syringe?”

“I didn’t think you’d tell me if I asked,” Peter said with as little inflection as possible. If he’d asked, Ajax would have lauded the mystery over his head. But Ajax liked to talk - maybe even more than Wade - and if he planned on telling Peter, he’d do so whether Peter asked or not.

“Fair enough.” Ajax shrugged. “Can’t really tell you anyway, since we’re not sure.”

Ajax seemed ready to talk and Peter couldn’t do much else so he indulged him. “How do you even know it’s supposed to go in humans then? Maybe it’s plant fertilizer. Or bug spray.”

“Could be, but since it was marked for the Osborns when we got it, I doubt it.” Peter frowned. Ajax couldn’t possibly know that Peter was from Osborn territory, or that he knew them personally.

“What, like they were going to inject themselves?” Peter furrowed his brow. He couldn’t think of anything they’d need injections for, unless Norman was still dead set on turning Harry into an Alpha somehow

“Looks like it.” Ajax said blithely. 

“Then how do you know it’s not just a vaccine or a painkiller or something?” Peter demanded, irritation beginning to tug at him despite his promises to remain detached. He hadn’t expected them to bring up Harry at a time like this.

“It could be,” Ajax said again. It was probably just as well that Peter was getting worked up. Ajax was never happy until he got a reaction out of him. “But I bet it’s something better. We’re just curious, that’s all. Want to see what the best money can buy actually does.”

Peter bit back another question. Peter still couldn’t think of anything Norman might want chemical intervention for except Harry’s secondary sex, but it had been years since he’d last seen them. A lot could have changed. For a moment, Peter allowed himself to hope that maybe Norman was dying, but just as quickly worry squashed the thought. What if it was  _ Harry _ who was dying?

The implications of a power vacuum so close to May were horrible. But they were also very far away. Peter didn’t have the energy to expend worrying about Harry or May or Tony or anyone outside the facility, really. All he had room for was Riley and trying not to die so, for now, Peter tried not to let his skin crawl as the technician wiped his arm clean and injected whatever the hell it was under his skin.

—-

Peter didn’t know exactly what he expected, but he somehow wasn’t  _ surprised _ when the injection made him sick as a dog.

From what he could gather, all four of them - him and Miles and Gwen and the mad man in the cell across from his - had all gotten the same treatment. Peter could hear them from his cell, moaning, retching, crying. 

It started as a pounding in Peter’s head, building behind his eyes until he was forced to bury his head in his arms to block out as much light as he could. The lights in the hall between their cells never went off, but they’d never felt so blinding as they did that first night after the injection.

Then came the nausea, retching, continuing long after Peter had anything left to purge from his stomach. His back still felt as though it were spasming even after he’d stopped being violently ill. The stench was unbearable. Not just of his own mess, but of everyone else’s as well. It felt as though someone were rubbing his nose in all of it, all their vomit and sweat and whatever other horrible bodily odors were floating around the place. It was enough to send Peter dry heaving even when the initial nausea passed.

All of that was bad, but the pain that came after was worse. First, Peter had thought he was freezing. He couldn’t stop shaking. He could practically hear his teeth chattering in his skull. Then the world would turn itself inside out and Peter would be burning up. It felt like they’d injected molten iron into his veins and Peter could feel it scorching its path up his arms and down his back, leaving him gasping and pouring sweat. He was half convinced the fever would boil his brain right up, and leave him as nothing more than a vegetable.

He certainly felt like he was half out of his mind already. He cried when the guards took him next, unable to withstand their rough touch on his over-sensitive skin. He could barely even hold Riley when they finally put the baby in his arms. He shook too badly and even Riley’s slight weight felt almost too heavy to bear. 

It wasn’t until after they’d already returned him to his cell that Peter realized the danger they’d put the little pup in. What if Peter was contagious? Or, worse, what if that had been the point? What if their next test was to infect him too? Surely such a little pup wouldn’t be able to survive the dehydration that came with being so sick. Peter wept anew at the thought. The dehydration had been such a source of anxiety before Riley was born and it had never really gone away. If that was what claimed him now…

But Riley only seemed colicky when Peter saw him next. He was still dirty and crying and he did feel warmer than usual, but he still took to food with a ferocity that set Peter somewhat at ease.

—

At the end of the second day, Miles and Gwen seemed to have bounced back. By the third, the room had stopped spinning for Peter but he was still wracked with tremors and bouts of heat and cold. His mind was settling, but he ached down to his bones -  _ deeper _ than his bones. It was an exhaustion that Peter couldn’t explain. He tried to eat when food was offered, but he had no appetite. He would have left it untouched altogether if not for Riley. 

Riley too seemed worse every time Peter saw him. He still took food, but his crying had been less and less and that was somehow scarier. What was he fighting that left him too tired to cry? Peter, unfortunately, had a very good idea.

While he and Riley seemed to be clinging on (however tenuously), the mad man in the cell deteriorated quickly. Where Peter had been able to pull himself upright by the third day (even if he was still shivering as he did it), the mad man barely even lifted his head. He ignored all food and what few attempts Peter made to call out to him. Several times, Peter thought he might have died.

But when the guards came for the mad man he groaned in pain and stirred. He didn’t fight them as they dragged him away. 

They didn’t bring him back.

_ — _

“Miles!”

Peter jerked awake, rolling to all fours without thinking.

“Miles, where are you?” 

It was Gwen. She was screaming. Peter pressed himself to the bars of his cell, craning his neck but he still couldn’t see her or Miles. 

“Miles!”

Gwen’s voice cracked. She must be crying. Peter felt a chill run down his spine. She had never cried in front of him before, not when they were captured or when she and Miles had been taken away by the scientists here, or even when they’d been sick afterward. 

“Gwen!” 

Peter stopped straining against the cell bars. That was Miles’ voice. It didn’t seem to comfort Gwen to hear it though.

“Miles! Where are you?” 

“I’m here! I’m right here!”

“Where?” 

“Gwen, what’s wrong?” Peter finally called, interrupting the increasingly frantic calls.

“I can’t see him!” Gwen cried. She sounded younger like this. It was so easy to forget sometimes that she was the same age as Miles. “I don’t know where he is! I don’t know where he is!”

“I’m right here!” Miles called back to her. Peter could hear how unnerved he was, like his anxiety was feeding off her panic and spiraling. 

“Where?” Gwen all but shrieked. He could hear the frustration creeping into her fear, for all that he couldn’t see either of them.

“ _ Here!” _

Peter heard Gwen’s sharp gasp.

“What is it? What happened?” Peter asked, renewing his efforts, however hopeless, to see down to their cells.

_ “Miles! _ Where did you go?” 

“Nowhere!” Miles said, voice high and tight with panic. “I didn’t go anywhere. I was right here the whole time.”

None of them could explain it. Peter wondered distantly if perhaps Gwen was going mad. He still didn’t know what they’d given all of them, but Peter felt so close to madness himself, that it seemed like a real possibility. 

But it happened again a few hours later and this time Miles shrieked when he looked down and found himself unable to see his own body. When Gwen panicked this time, she found herself  _ glued _ to the bars of her cell. Over the next twenty-four hours, Peter began to think that perhaps Miles and Gwen were fine and  _ he  _ was the one hallucinating their unnatural abilities: invisible children, children who could stick to walls and ceilings, children strong enough to bend the metal bars of their cells, but too scared of the consequences to leave them that way… surely these things were a product of his own deranged mind.  _ Peter  _ certainly didn’t seem to be getting any of these abilities.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. He’d found himself stuck to the floor of his cell more than once. But the effect must have been psychological. He felt so sick and so tired all the time now. It must be his brain convincing him that he  _ couldn’t _ move, since he just wanted to lie down and stay still so badly. The ache in his joints was a constant, as was the buzz in his head. He tried to eat what the guards brought him, but the first time he was actually sick from it, Peter stopped. He needed to eat for Riley, but he needed to  _ live _ even more than that. Peter didn’t trust them to keep him alive if he got too dehydrated from vomiting. 

\---

It was bad. Peter knew it was bad. His visits to Riley had been slowly decreasing. Peter didn’t know if it was because they’d perfected a formula for Riley that didn’t require Peter at all, or if they’d realized that he was dying and decided that he and Riley were too weak to make good test subjects anymore. He thought of the mad man who’d been in the cell across from his. He tried not to think about what had happened to him, but he knew that he desperately did not want the same fate for him or his cub. 

He didn’t know if it was better or worse that Miles and Gwen seemed to be responding positively to the injection. On the one hand, Peter thought that it would be a reason for Weapon X to keep them alive. On the other, Peter didn’t know if a life in Weapon X’s hands was worth it. Would they continue to experiment on the children? Or would they train them into agents, like they’d done to Wade? What would happen once the children grew older and presented their second sexes? What if one of them was an Omega? What then?

Peter shuddered and tried not to think about it. Given Ajax’s threats of turning  _ him  _ into a broodmare, Peter couldn’t bear to think what they might do with a younger, more promising Omega. Perhaps death would have been preferable. 

The last time that they took Peter out of his cell, Peter had a feeling they weren’t going to bring him back to it. He didn’t say as much to Miles and Gwen. There was no need to cause them any more alarm than they’d already been subjected to. But Peter knew. The pain in his joints had settled in a heavy tangled knot in his chest. It hurt to breathe. With less oxygen to run on, his thoughts had become foggy and disconnected, and the lethargy was worse than ever before. He was too tired to move, let alone feed himself, and he knew they’d given up on him when they stopped trying to force the food on him.

Peter had seen it a few times in animals: other people’s livestock, an injured wild thing that Peter had tried to save… even in sick people. He could recognize it well enough in himself. 

So it wasn’t a huge shock when they dragged him to a different laboratory than usual. When the guards let go of his arms, Peter sunk to his knees, unable even to stand without support. 

Ajax was there. Of course, he was. Peter didn’t know what he expected from the man: maybe triumph at seeing his success, or disgust to see how low Peter had fallen. His apathy was almost worse. He really didn’t appear human in Ajax’s eyes, Peter realized. It stirred the last dredges of anger Peter had left, even though he had already known it was true. 

“You won’t even let me say goodbye?” Peter asked, lifting dull eyes to Ajax’ face. His voice was thin, tinny in his own ears, and it left him breathless to speak at all.

“What for?” Ajax cocked an eyebrow. “The whelp doesn’t need you anymore and you’d just be prolonging the inevitable.”

“What are you going to do to him?” Peter was glad to find that he could still cling to his anger. Even if his body was failing him, he still held onto enough of himself to feel angry at the mistreatment of his cub. Ajax shrugged.

“We’ll give him one more try to manifest something interesting, but I dunno after that. If he survives it, I’ll let the lab-coats decide.”

Peter stared at him silently for a long moment.

He was never going to understand this man. He’d thought that maybe if he paid attention, he might be able to piece Ajax’s mind together, figure out how he worked, and use it to manipulate him. But Peter didn’t understand him. He would never understand someone who doled out violence like this. It wasn’t even that the man took pleasure in it - Peter might have understood that - just the sheer level of indifference to the pain he caused. It meant nothing to him. He could hand out torture like he was throwing breadcrumbs to a flock of birds, without blinking an eye. 

This was the man who had broken Wade. This was the man who held Riley’s fate in his hands. This was the man who was going to kill him, and he didn’t even care. 

“I am going to make you regret ever laying a finger on my family.” Peter told him flatly. “I am going to make you wish that you’d never laid eyes on any of us. And I’m going to make sure you die screaming.”

Peter didn’t know he was even capable of such thoughts until recently. It scared him a little, just how much he meant it, how  _ easy _ it was to say. How easy it would be to follow through on, if he had the strength. 

Ajax, of course, didn’t seem particularly impressed. 

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he said, nodding to his assistant to proceed. 

A panel on the back wall slid away to reveal another cell, like the one Peter had been kept in. The bars had been replaced, however. The material looked like glass (Peter could see through it clearly) but it must have been something much stronger. They didn’t seem concerned that Peter would try to break it, after all. Or maybe they just realized that he was already stretching himself to stay sitting upright. Even if it were possible to break it, Peter didn’t have the strength to.

The floor and walls of the cell were splattered with dark stains. Peter wasn’t the first person they had sent in there, and Peter wasn’t optimistic enough to pretend the stains were paint. Inside the cell was box, a little like a fish tank, but enclosed on all sides. Inside the tank was--  _ something _ . 

The guards seemed to realize that Peter was staying put because he  _ couldn’t  _ walk forward himself, rather than out of stubbornness or fear, and hoisted him again by his arms. Peter stared at the tank as they dragged him to the new cell. It looked like it was full of water. Pitch black, sloshing water. There was no breeze or rumble to disturb the surface, however. The substance frothed and tumbled of its own accord. It was thicker than water, Peter realized as they tossed him unceremoniously inside and quickly locked him in. 

Peter had been so scared for so long that he didn’t think he had any terror left for them to wring out of him. He’d been wrong. He’d been so very, very wrong. Because suddenly, Peter recognized the unnatural thing in front of him. 

It was small now, cramped in its little container, but Peter was  _ positive _ it was the monster they had seen in the desert. 

How had they recaptured it? How was it so compact? It had been enormous when he’d last seen it. Where were its gnashing teeth and its lolling tongue? As the top of the tank slid open, Peter realized he  _ desperately  _ did not want to know. 

There wasn’t time to decide whether to cower or to stand his ground with the staff still watching. It moved like a whip, one black tendril shooting out to snatch Peter’s wrist before he could think. Peter gave a panicked shout, trying to tug his arm away, but the thing was unnatural strong. And then, suddenly, it felt as though a thousand tiny needles were pushing into his arm where the creature held it fast. Terrified that the thing would take his hand off at the wrist, Peter glanced down. Somehow, the blackness was shoving itself under his skin. There was no wound, but Peter could see the darkness streaking up his veins, snaking up his arm toward his shoulder.

He screamed. 


	7. Vengeance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: references to drowning, homicidal attitudes, fusing with an angry alien is painful? mild gore? kind of cannibalism?? V eats people my dudes
> 
> I will be using they/them and it/its pronouns for V in this

Wade woke to the sun burning the skin on his face. 

The first thing he did upon waking was roll over and cough up more water than really should have been able to fit in his lungs. He groaned, feeling as though he must have swallowed half the river in his untimely trip downstream. 

Wade knew he was lucky. He had almost certainly drowned  _ at least _ once, and that wasn’t something people normally walked away from. But it was hard to feel grateful when he was so deeply uncomfortable: burnt from the sun, and frozen and waterlogged from the river, and aching from being pummeled against the rocks. 

He was on a little stretch of sandy river bank, which was better than being under water, but still discouraging. Wade knew that they hadn’t passed a place like this for at least a day, which meant it would take hours to trek back upstream. His backpack was gone too, though Wade couldn’t remember if he’d unstrapped it himself or if it had been torn from his back at some point. His mind was always so foggy after he died. 

There was no telling how long he’d been gone either and Wade really just wanted to get back to Peter and Riley and the kids as soon as possible. And so, pack or no pack, aching or not, he found a good place to climb up out of the gorge and pulled himself back up near the road. 

The road was a good sign. They’d already been traveling alongside it for a few days, so he couldn’t have gotten washed  _ too _ far down. Wade was faster on his own too, without having to worry about any of the kids keeping up with him. Not carrying the pack made him faster too. In fact, Wade was impressed by just how quickly he could move alone.

He’d forgotten how much time got eaten up by the frequent stops Ellie and Riley needed, or by how long they had to stop to sleep each night. Alone, he could push himself harder and farther than he’d ever push the kids or Peter. It wasn’t sustainable, of course, but Wade didn’t need to sustain it. He just needed to make it back to the rest of his pack. 

What took them three and a half days as a group, Wade guessed, only took him about two. As the landscape became familiar again, and he began to recognize that he was drawing close to their last spot, Wade found himself pushing to go even faster. 

He didn’t like being away from his family. It reminded him too much of the time he’d spent combing the desert for water while Peter and Tony had languished in a broken down car all those months ago. But the knowledge that they’d be together again soon was enough to stave off real panic for now. Maybe Peter would take the kids and start off in his direction early. Maybe they could meet up halfway and back track together. 

The thought made him happy, but only led to disappointment when he did not meet Peter on the road. In fact, twice he had to duck out of sight when cars passed. That did make him a little nervous, since it was more people than they’d encountered in practically their entire journey. They were driving slowly too, like they were searching for something.

But they’d come from the direction where Peter and the kids were. Surely, if they had already found the rest of his pack, they wouldn’t need to drive so slowly, they wouldn’t need to continue looking for anyone. Wade told himself this over and over as he drew closer to their meet-up spot. 

The little strip of beach next to the ruined bridge was empty.

Wade had guessed it might be. It was too quiet as he’d approached. 

Still, even knowing it had been likely, Wade had to fight not to panic looking around at the deserted sand. It was too much like when Wade had returned to the car to find Peter and Tony missing all those months ago. Wade had nearly lost his mind back then, but he couldn't afford that now. He needed to keep it together.

Maybe Peter had just moved them further upstream. Maybe it had gotten too dangerous to stay. There were places for Wade to begin searching this time around. He wasn’t completely lost. 

“Shit.” Wade growled, kicking a rock into the river. It sank with a satisfying plunk. He could deal with this and he would, he was a grown-up now, but he  _ hated _ it. He hated not knowing where Peter and Riley were. “Damn it!”

“Wade?”

Wade spun, suddenly on alert. It was completely possible that the voice was in his head. He wouldn’t be shocked if his brain just up and decided it was time to fuck with him and let him hear a voice because he  _ wanted  _ to hear a voice. But it had felt real.

“Wade!”

Something darted out of the concrete rubble and slammed into Wade’s legs with such force that he nearly fell over.

“Ellie?”

Ellie clung to his legs like she was afraid he’d vanish if she let go. All he could see was the top of her curly head of hair, but he could hear her  _ sobbing. _ Wade’s heart dropped. 

  
  


Wade knelt, carefully peeling Ellie’s arms off his legs and reattaching her grip around his shoulders. She grabbed back onto him the moment he allowed her to do so. Carefully, Wade wrapped his arms around the little girl. He stroked her hair and pet her back and tried not to panic over what had her crying here all by herself.

“Ellie,” Wade said finally, “What happened? Where is everyone?”

Ellie looked up at him, taking deep gasping breaths as she tried to get a hold of herself.

“They-“ She started to say, but her chin wobbled and then her voice broke and she was crying too hard to speak again. It took Wade long minutes to calm her down enough to explain anything, and even then she refused to let go of Wade.

“The bad guys got ‘em,” Ellie finally managed to squeak out.

“Weapon X? The same bad guys that had you and Miles and Gwen?” 

Ellie nodded. “The bad X men. It was on the truck.”

Wade held his breath, trying to fight off a wave of nausea. He was gripping Ellie just a little too tightly now, and the tears started again before Wade even had time to process it.

“I’m sorry!” Ellie wailed. “I wanted to stop them but Peter said don’t come out and then Miles and Gwen went out and they told me not to come out but I didn’t help them and then they got them and they took all of them even Baby Riley!”

She was speaking so quickly and her words were so choked up that Wade could barely understand her. When he did, Wade felt his heart break all over again.

“Oh, Ellie-belly,” He crooned, “Oh, baby girl, it’s ok. It’s gonna be ok.”

He had no idea if it was going to be ok or not, but whatever way it turned out, none of it was  _ Ellie’s  _ fault and he needed her to know it.

“You did so good,” he told her earnestly, “You did such a good job hiding and staying safe, you must have found a really good hiding spot. You did just the right thing, you know why?”

Ellie shook her head.

“If they caught you too then we wouldn’t know where to go to find everyone. You stayed safe so you could tell me and now it’s gonna be a lot easier to get them all back.” Wade said, pulling her away to make sure she was looking at him, paying attention. “You’ve been so brave. I’m so proud of you. I need you to keep being brave for a little while longer, ok?”

“Ok,” Ellie whispered, clearly unsure but trusting Wade anyway. Wade didn’t know what he'd done to deserve it, especially when he was going to have to keep asking a lot from her.

“I need you to tell me, Ellie, it’s really important, do you remember which way they went?”

This time Ellie knew the answer and she nodded emphatically before pointing across the river.

“Good job. We’re gonna go get them now, ok?” 

“We’re gonna get Baby Riley?” Ellie asked hopefully. 

“Uh huh. And Peter and Miles and Gwen too.” Wade told her confidently. The promise seemed to brighten Ellie a little and she agreed to be hoisted onto Wade’s shoulders. She barely weighed more than his pack had, so he wasn’t too worried about being slowed down. “Have you ever been hunting before, Ellie-belly?”

“Nu-uh.”

“Well, no time like the present.” 

It was the strangest feeling. Ellie had managed to banish the panic from Wade’s mind. He wouldn’t say that he was  _ fine  _ with what had happened, but he felt sure that the others were still alive. Maybe only alive to be experimented on, but living people could be saved and Wade would do anything to make it happen. In some ways it felt very simple. He was just going to have to go in there and get them out and probably murder anyone who crossed his path. Easy-Peasy. He couldn’t seem to die and he didn’t really care who he killed in the process anymore, so the only obstacle was getting there.

Wade began to whistle. He’d never been so angry in his life, but it seemed to have passed the point of being something Wade could even process. Wade could have laughed.

“ _ Alouette, gentille alouette! Alouette, je te plumerai!” _

“I don’t know that one.”

“Hmm, _ going to get them, yes, we’re going to get them! We’re going to get them and chop them up today…” _ Wade improvised. The song leant itself well to naming all of the bits Wade decided he was going to chop up and Ellie either didn’t understand or didn’t mind that it was so violent. 

This time, Wade didn’t hesitate as he strode into the river with Ellie on his shoulders. She’d begun to help him make up verses  _ (“Going to chop off their legs? Going to chop off their legs!”) _ as the water came up over his waist, up to his chest.

Wade took a deep breath and stepped into the deepest part of the river. The water closed over his head, but he could hear Ellie continuing to sing.

\--

Peter knew he was on the ground but he couldn’t feel it. His blood felt like fire in his veins. He could feel the-  _ thing _ burrowing into his chest, drilling into the marrow of his bones, squeezing between his ribs and filling his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. He knew he was gasping like a fish above water, but the creature seemed to steal the air from his lungs before he could get any. The pressure was building in his head. He could let go. It would be so easy. The darkness was right there, practically inviting him to slip into it…

Peter struck out, thrashing against the floor. He couldn’t. They still had Riley. They still had Miles and Gwen. His kids needed him.

It was hard. It  _ hurt _ to try to live. He could feel the creature crawling up his throat, up his spine to his skull. Lights popped in front of his eyes. He was going mad. He was sure of it. He tried to focus, tried to remember Riley on that cold metal table, all the wires and tubes they’d stuck to him. 

_ Die already.  _

It felt like the darkness had given itself a voice to force him to give in.  _ Wrong. All wrong. Doesn’t match- want- we need- _ If Peter had had the thought to spare, he might have wondered what the fuck the voice in his head was saying. But he couldn’t. 

_ No!  _ He tried to shout, even just in his mind. Peter could feel the anger of the darkness, hear it’s furious hiss of  _ bad match- die- want our- need our—  _ Peter gasped and choked as his throat squeezed even tighter. Was it the injection or was it the creature? Peter didn’t know.

_ No, _ he tried to think, but he could feel his thrashing beginning to slow. He couldn’t seem to make his limbs move no matter how hard he tried. He was  _ failing.  _ He wanted to scream but he didn’t have the air.

_ I’m going to kill all of them,  _ Peter thought viciously.  _ If I die I’m gonna come back and kill anyone who was ever involved in this - anyone who touched Riley. _

_ What is Riley? _

Peter was too furious to question how he was having a conversation with himself or how any part of him could have forgotten his child. All he knew was that the grip on his throat seemed to loosen a fraction.

_ Riley! My pup. My baby. My whole world. _ Peter grabbed onto the memory of him fiercely. He wanted to shove the sweet baby in the darkness’ face, show him his nonsense babbling and his fascination with Ellie’s hair, but the painful memories were closer. Peter would never be able to forget how Riley cried every time they dragged Peter away, or his screams when they’d shocked him to ensure Peter’s obedience. He shoved these thoughts at the voice, trying to burn them into its mind if he could.

_ It’s little. _ The voice finally conceded.  _ So small. _

_ Yes, he’s little and he can’t protect himself yet and they are hurting him! _ Peter latched on to this - anything to keep himself conscious and alive, anything to keep the darkness at bay.

_ They hurt us too, _ the darkness rumbled, fury bubbling in its voice. It paused a moment, almost curious.  _ And you. You are in pain. You are dying. _

_ No, I’m not,  _ Peter tried to cling to the thought,  _ They need me. I won’t. I’m not gonna die.  _

_ All of them die eventually,  _ the darkness told him. It sounded almost resigned, as much as a disembodied voice could.  _ Everyone but Eddie. _

_ Eddie?  _ Peter felt very strange. Like his mind was coming detached from his body. The pain was beginning to fade, replaced by a bone deep exhaustion.

_ He is ours. We are his.  _ Finally Peter began to wonder if the voice was in his head at all. Surely if it were a product of his imagination, he’d know what the hell it was talking about.  _ We escaped but they found us. They took him away. He is probably dead.  _

An image pushed its way in front of Peter’s eyes. A man. A ragged, sleep-deprived man who needed a shave. If Peter had met him on the road, he probably would’ve hidden until the man had passed him by, but the image before him was accompanied by… tenderness. The image flickered as the darkness supplied another memory and then another, each tinged with a deep affection: the man running his fingers through the shapeless darkness, a landscape seen through two sets of eyes, the man nude and writhing, the man’s face twisted with rage as he was pulled into the back of a truck-

_ I know him!  _ Peter’s mind cried out, interrupting the flow of memories. He could feel the spike of emotion ripple through the darkness.  _ He was in the cell across from mine. _

The shift was instantaneous. The darkness- the creature, he realized now - seized upon the memory. Peter screamed, too shocked to even realize he had the air now to do it. It felt like something was digging its thumbs into his skull and pulling it apart like an orange. He could feel the thing rifling through his memories with a vengeance, snatching up Eddie’s face, the way he’d cried at night, how he’d clapped his hands over his ears and curled in on himself whenever Peter got too loud - his defeated eyes when they took him away for the last time. It was a familiar agony in his chest, but the feeling was not his own this time.

_ They hurt him, _ the creature learned, digging itself deeper so that Peter could not help but gasp in pain. But it was a different sort of pain now. A focal point.

_ Yes,  _ Peter seethed. He reached for the creature with his mind. He didn’t care that it hurt. The creature had power and Peter needed it. He felt the thing’s fury mingle with his own and he pressed on.  _ They hurt your Eddie and they hurt my baby and my mate and my kids and me and they’re gonna keep doing it unless we stop them. _

The deeper Peter let the thing sink into his mind, the less it hurt. It was harder now to tell where his anger stopped and the creature’s anger began.

_ You are dying, _ the creature reminded him, almost hesitant. Peter could feel the resolution as soon as the thing made it.  _ But we can fix you. We will fix you and then we will kill them all and find our family.  _

**_Yes._ **

**_We are Vengeance._ **

The pain subsided almost immediately. Nothing could have ever prepared Peter for what it was like to be fused with this creature. It was less of his mind fitting perfectly with the creature's mind and more a sense of going from becoming himself to becoming themself. He understood now why they were Vengeance, and not Venom, as the Symbiote had been before. They could no more be Venom without Eddie, than they could have been Vengeance without Peter.

Vengeance was all corded muscle and black claws and unbridled fury and they relished it. Apart, they had been trapped and dying. Together, they were strong enough to wrench their freedom back into their own hands. They roared, the sound shaking the glass and making the lab technicians step back. 

_ Riley _ ! The part that was still Peter insisted and they snarled their agreement, even as the part that was V grumbled back,  _ Eddie. _

The glass shattered as easily as the shell of a beetle under their hands and they leapt into the room. The lab was filled with screaming, but for once it was not their own. Their arm shot out, caught a technician by the waist, sinking their claws into him. He howled and the part that was Peter felt a distant sort of surprise at how hot and wet the man’s insides were on their hand. He could sense V’s delight, his hunger, and did not stop them when V sank their teeth into the man.

_ Riley, _ he insisted again. He could taste the man’s blood in the back of his throat, but it did not disturb him, not when they were still Vengeance. V reluctantly tossed the man aside, now missing an arm and half his torso. There would be time to eat later. There was more important work to be done. 

A sound wrent the air, popping so loudly it almost felt like being struck in the head. Vengeance covered their ears for the barest moment before turning to the sound with a shriek. They could feel the ping of something striking their chest only to bounce away uselessly.

They whirled to find Ajax with his gun leveled at them. His face was twisted with confusion and shock. Had he really been firing at them? It had felt like a handful of pebbles. For a moment, fear flared in the parts of Peter that remained. This was the man who’d hurt him and he was going to hurt him again. 

Only rather than strike them again, Ajax turned on his heel and ran. 

_ You hesitated, _ V snarled in his mind.  _ We should have devoured him. _

Peter had forgotten. He was not Peter,  _ they _ were Vengeance, and they were strong enough and fearful enough to force Ajax to run with his tail between his legs. 

_ Later, _ Peter promised. He had sworn after all, to see Ajax die screaming.

\--

It took only a little longer for Vengeance to tear their way to the laboratory they used for Riley. They might have been faster, but V craved blood and Peter… well, Peter hadn’t become Vengeance so that they could let Weapon X get away with all they had done. 

They left a trail of carnage in their wake. Those who could not fight, fled from them. It did not matter. They were fast enough to catch them all, to rip them apart and leave them scattered through the halls. 

By the time they reached Riley’s lab, the scientists had already fled. They’d left the baby behind in their flight and Peter felt a rush of anger and disgust. He had known they meant to harm, maybe kill, his cub but they had  _ abandoned _ him to the rage of a bloodthirsty monster. His rage ebbed as they neared and Riley’s inconsolable wails hit their ears.

Vengeance flinched at the high whine. It was sharp, almost like the sound might cut them if they came too close, but Peter forced them forward. At least he knew now why Venom had fled when they met them in the desert all that time ago. The noise was excruciating. 

_ Make it stop _ , V demanded. Peter tried. He made them reach for the little cub, scoop him gently into their arms, rock him against their chest. But Peter did not smell like himself like this. He was entirely masked by his fusion with V and Peter felt his heart sink knowing that even this comfort was terrifying his child. 

_ It’s hurt, _ V observed. Peter could sense V’s reluctance to carry the squalling creature with them, especially since its cries were still ricochetting painfully around their skull. He could even tell when the idea to simply eat the baby to silence it crossed V’s mind. Peter tugged his mind sharply away from V’s in retaliation. The stretch hurt them both until Peter gave in and let them snap back together.

_ Fix him,  _ Peter seethed _ , Fix him like you fixed me. _

V’s reluctance was still palpable as they slowly let themselves slide to engulf the baby as well. 

It was difficult. Riley shrieked in alarm at the encroaching tendrils, each cry making V jump away, but Peter was persistent. It frightened him to watch the slick black goo wrap around his child, fill his mouth and nose. It was only because he was already immersed that Peter was able to let it happen at all. For a moment they fought one another, the consciousness of a terrified baby not nearly as accepting as an enraged adult.

But then something clicked - their minds slid together just well enough for the baby to recognize his own parent in the dark and let his guard instantly drop. 

_ There is metal in it, _ V noted curiously.

_ The tracker,  _ Peter remembered,  _ get rid of it.  _

This time Peter could sense the way V manipulated Riley’s body within their own, feel the way it gently drew the chip toward the surface until it was an insignificant shell in their mouth. 

They spat the chip to the floor in disgust, crushing it under a heel before Peter - Vengeance- clutched Riley to their chest. Or, rather, wrapped their arms around their own chest, for V had carefully lodged the baby’s body as deep into their own as they could. 

The bond was imperfect. V was struggling now to keep them all tied together. They had never tried to maintain two hosts before. But Peter clung onto V fiercely, even as he marveled at being able to sense the little confused jumble that was Riley’s mind. It was so different from V’s or his own, made up only of emotions and vivid sense memories: snatches of Peter and Wade’s scents and the uncomfortable tingle of too bright light on his eyes and the awful cold of the metal table. 

V wrenched Peter back on track.  _ Eddie _ , they reminded him, urgent now that Peter’s need had been fulfilled. Peter didn’t fight them as Vengeance tore off back through the compound. 

He barely remembered the men they killed, the carnage they left behind. He didn’t care. He had his cub and his cub would be fine.

Peter let V guide them, tearing through lab after lab. He could feel V’s mounting panic the longer they searched without result. 

_ What if he is dead? _ Surprisingly, it wasn’t Peter who thought it.

_ Then we will avenge him, _ Peter thought fiercely. He was sated - for now - but he still had promises of his own to keep, screams he still wanted to hear for himself. 

It did not come to that. 

Neither of them had known about the second cell block. Unlike the area where Peter had been kept, these containment units had no bars. They did not look quite so obvious as that. Instead there were thick metal doors, all locked. The only difference between these doors and the ones leading to more laboratories was that these had slot-like windows set high in the frame, allowing passersby to peer inside. Even then, Vengeance did not immediately recognize the empty little rooms as cells. There was nothing in them. They were about the size of a broom closet, not even enough room for a person to comfortably lie down, and there were no lights inside. It was only when they passed the remains of what must once have been another prisoner that their purpose became clear. V keened in their mind, panic flaring. Peter held them fast.

_ It’s old _ , Peter reminded them harshly.  _ It must have been rotting for months and months to look like that. Eddie wasn’t taken away so long ago, it can’t be him. _

V redoubled their efforts. Now it was not enough to peer into each cell, now Vengeance tore the doors from their hinges, tossing them aside like they were nothing more than logs to be tossed on a fire. They snarled each time a cell revealed itself to be empty.

And then there was Eddie. Peter would not have recognized the man on his own, but V knew him instantly. He looked worse than the last time Peter had seen him, when he’d been dragged away. He was utterly gaunt. His limbs had taken on that uncanny knobby quality, the joints becoming more pronounced as the rest of his body withered away. His skin seemed to sag off him. Eddie flinched at the racket and Peter suddenly understood.

In their cells, Peter had thought Eddie was mad for his extreme sensitivity to sound. If it was madness, Peter thought now, it was a separation induced one. He had felt for himself how painful the loud noises were to V and he had only been fused with them for a few hours at most. If Eddie was accustomed to it, if they spent all their time as Venom, it made sense that he would instinctively keep his aversion to loud noises. 

He didn’t seem to have the strength to do much about it now though. Eddie did not even raise his arms to cover his ears, just squeezed his eyes shut against the bright light of the hall.

_ Eddie _ . Peter was nearly overwhelmed by the strength of V’s emotion: the blinding relief, the horror, the rage at seeing the man’s state. It was not until Eddie forced his eyes open a crack that Peter realized they had spoken aloud. The corners of Eddie’s mouth twitched up as recognition sunk in. 

In an instant V was pulling away. It had hurt to meld with the creature, but it hurt to separate too, like V was tearing him apart in his haste. Peter and Riley screamed as one.

“Gently!” Peter shouted. He faintly felt V’s annoyance at the delay, but soon the feeling vanished as V finished extracting themself from the pair. Peter found himself suddenly alone in his own mind, oddly disoriented by the silence and singularity of his own thoughts. He swayed for a moment before Riley whimpered and Peter snapped back into focus. 

He held the baby tightly as he watched V flow over Eddie’s loose skin. Eddie let out a deep sigh of relief as V vanished momentarily, burrowing deep into the man’s body. Their form rippled and V suddenly reemerged, pulling themself over Eddie’s face like a mask. 

This was Venom. This was what Peter had seen in that desert all that time ago. The creature was not quite so large as he remembered, probably because of Eddie’s diminished state, but the tremor was gone as Venom stood. V would sustain them, Peter knew. Even if they weren’t at full strength, Venom would be more than enough to break them out.

Peter waited as long as he could while Venom murmured to themself in two voices, trying to allow them their reunion, but he could not wait long.

“Miles and Gwen,” he said finally. “We need to get the rest of my kids.”

Venom debated for a moment before nodding. Their great red tongue flicked out in anticipation.

“First kids,” They agreed, “Then feast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please feel free to tell me if there are any tags/warning that I missed!


	8. The Plunge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: general Wade questioning his own mental health, more blood, more gore mention (Venom is still eating people), children briefly in combat, electrocution(? Miles has his venom-blast), asphyxiation,

Wade would never in his life admit that he hesitated at the compound gate. 

Peter was down there.  _ Riley _ was down there. Miles and Gwen and his family needed him and Wade  _ hesitated _ . He nearly stabbed himself in the leg when he realized he’d done it. It was only that it was all so familiar. Things he’d buried deep in his mind stirred now that he was here, in the place where it all happened. Where they’d turned him into Deadpool. Wade tried not to shudder. 

They had hurt him, but they’d made a mistake. They’d made him stronger. They’d given him the ability to rescue his family. 

There was a voice in Wade’s mind that whispered that perhaps it was too late. Perhaps there was no one left to be rescued. So many of Wade’s fellow captives had died before they’d succeeded with him. He pushed the thought deep down. They were alive. They were alive and Wade was going to find them and take them all somewhere far away where Weapon X could never hurt any of them ever again. 

This was what Wade assured himself as he crept into the compound. 

He suspected that something was amiss almost immediately. It was too easy to slip inside. Wade was not humble about his own skill, but somehow he doubted that it was his own prowess that let him in undetected. In fact, when he let himself into one of the hallways, he found that he hadn’t been undetected at all. 

He had, unknowingly, triggered an alarm. The siren was blaring at a deafening volume. And yet, nothing happened. He was not stormed by guards. He was not assailed by bullets or tranquilizing darts. There were not even any passing scientists to gawk and drop their clipboards in surprise. The hall was completely empty.

Something was wrong. Wade drew his gun and tried to recall his own hazy memories of where he’d been kept during his own imprisonment. Down seemed like a safe bet.

He needn’t have drawn the gun. He encountered no one as he jogged down hallways and hurried down ramps and rough hewn steps. That was to say, he encountered no one  _ alive _ . The place was littered with corpses. After only a few minutes, Wade found he was leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him. It was unavoidable, the floor was just too saturated with the stuff. 

He kept a tight grip on his gun and tried to bite down on his rising panic. 

It wasn’t the violence that bothered him. He’d committed this level of savagery himself, after all. No, it was the thoroughness. There was not one person he found with even a remote chance of survival. Whoever had done it was clearly no supporter of Weapon X, but what if it was something less purposeful than that? What if it was something that just slaughtered indiscriminately?

Finally through the labyrinth of corridors, Wade recognized the cell block. By now the fear had risen in him too sharply for him to consider what it meant for him to be back here, in this place where they had torn him apart and put him back together over and over again. It didn’t matter. There was something vicious loose here, something worse than Francis and all his dogs, and his  _ mate _ was down here, his cub was down here. He was breathing hard now, rattling the bars of cells as he passed. Empty. Empty. One after the next after the next. Nothing. No one.

“ _ Someone’s coming.” _

Wade halted in his tracks to listen. The whisper was urgent in the otherwise quiet dungeon.

“ _ Miles, turn invisible! Quick!” _

“I can’t!” There, an equally frantic whisper, the voice trembling. “I can’t do it on purpose!”

“You have to, come on!”

“What about you?”

Wade had heard enough. He let out a long breath and stepped forward.

“Miles? Gwen?”

He hadn’t meant to startle them, but both children shrieked at the sound of another voice so close. Wade held up his hands, which may not have been as comforting a gesture as he had hoped, since he was still holding his gun. 

“Whoa, hey, it’s just me,” he said quickly, tugging off his mask to prove it. He didn’t know how anyone could possibly fake a face like his and they should still remember his scent. 

It was then that Wade finally got a good look at them. Or, rather, he tried to. The pair seemed to have vanished into thin air. Wade stared at the empty cells in bewilderment. His mental health had never been stellar, even before his time in captivity, but he didn’t  _ think  _ he’d gotten into hallucination territory before. 

“Guys?” He asked tentatively. The air in front of him seemed to riple for a moment before it solidified into Miles. This time it was Wade’s turn to give a startled shout.

“Wade!” Miles grabbed the bars of his cell.

“Holy shit, Miles,” Wade gasped. “You can turn invisible? Ok, ok, ok, you can turn invisible.”

Miles nodded fervently, eyes still wide with fear (though not of Wade, he guessed). “And Gwen can climb good.”

“Gwen can…” Wade echoed, turning on the spot. With this new information, Wade caught sight of her immediately, but jumped again in surprise nonetheless. She was glaring at him fiercely from where she was crouched in the corner of her cell. The top corner. Where the walls met the ceiling.

Realizing she’d been spotted, Gwen carefully uncurled herself and scaled the wall down in a few quick steps. She didn’t seem immune to gravity, Wade noted, just… sticky. Wade took a deep breath. Ok. He knew Weapon X was capable of inducing strange abilities. They could deal with this. The important thing was that they were ok. Relatively speaking. The kids were naked and looked half-starved, but at least didn’t seem to bear the marks of much violence.

“Ok,” Wade said again, “I’m gonna get you guys out of here, stand back.”

Wade cocked his gun, aiming for the lock.

“Wait!” Miles said. “Wait, I think I can…”

Miles glanced nervously back at Gwen before he took a deep breath and put both hands on the bars of his cell. As Wade watched, the boy pried the bars apart. He gave a little shout of surprise as the steel bar broke off in his hand, gaping up at Wade. Wade could only gape back.

“Damn, how come I didn’t get super strong?” He murmured finally as Miles wriggled through the opening he’d made. The effect was no less startling when he watched Gwen do the same. 

Stumbling forward, Miles latched onto one of Wade’s arms.

“Is Ellie with you?” He asked, “Is she ok? I didn’t see her when they took us.”

“She’s ok,” Wade tried to reassure him. “She’s outside waiting for us, she’s hiding.”

Despite Wade’s presence, the kids in front of him were clearly frightened. They needed reassurance, protection, maybe just some god damn clothing, but Wade knew he wasn’t going to be able to give it to them, not until he’d found Peter and Riley.

“Where are they?” He finally asked, doing all he could to keep his voice calm and even. Miles shook his head and Wade could feel the pit of dread threatening to open up beneath him.

“We haven’t seen Riley since they took us,” Gwen told him sullenly. “He’s alive, I think, ‘cuz they kept bringing Peter to see him.”

“But they took Peter away today and they haven’t brought him back,” Miles added, “And then everyone started screaming…”

Some good news, some bad news. At least they weren’t dead. Probably.  _ No, _ Wade admonished himself,  _ they weren’t.  _ He wouldn’t believe it until he saw it.

“Did you see why everyone was screaming?” He asked instead. They hadn’t. Weapon X seemed to have forgotten all about Miles and Gwen, alone down here in their cells. There had been screaming and shooting and  _ roaring _ , but it had all been remote, far beyond the view that their cells afforded them. The most they had seen was an agent stumbling drunkenly down their hall, holding his guts in. He was out of sight again before either of them saw what became of him.

“Ok,” Wade said again, trying hard not to think about whatever had sent Weapon X running. “Ok, we’re getting out of here. Stick behind me and do everything I say, got it? If I tell you to jump, you jump, if I tell you to hide, you hide, and if I tell you to run and not look back…”

Gwen nodded firmly. Miles seemed more hesitant but he wouldn’t go against Gwen. Wade grimaced. He wished he could give them more of a choice, more autonomy after so long in cages, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. They could have all that once they got out of here.

The hallways were just as deserted as when Wade had entered. The blood was still thick in puddles on the floor, tacky as it started drying, and soon both children were leaving bloody footprints of their own through the halls. Their steps squelched as they walked, but otherwise they remained silent. Miles clung to Gwen’s arm and though she kept her eyes ahead, her features alert, Wade could see she was squeezing Miles’ hand back.

They found a storage closet with spare lab coats, and the kids wrapped themselves in the starched cloth quickly. If he’d had room in his mind for it, Wade might have been furious that they’d been kept naked for so long: vulnerable, humiliated, and  _ cold _ , as he knew from experience. But there wasn’t room for any of that. There was only room for finding his family.

He took a couple coats with them as well. Peter might need clothing, and if not, they could still be used as bandages or diapers later on.

They met an armed agent only once. The poor man looked as shocked to see them as they were to see him. He was bleeding from a deep gash in his head. Wade wasn’t sure how he was still upright, given how much he was blood he was losing. He half expected the guard to keep running without a second glance at them. 

Then recognition flickered over the agent’s face. Prisoners. Experiments. Most importantly, Wade. Deadpool. The one that got away. 

He recognized them, but had apparently abandoned all his other senses. He ran at them with bare hands, as though he’d forgotten that he carried a gun strapped to his back. Wade tensed, ready to knock him aside. The children, he assumed, would naturally get behind him. 

They did not. Gwen and Miles both ran at him, but Miles reached him first. He threw himself at him, grabbing one of the man’s arms and trying to drag him down to the floor. Gwen flung herself at the other arm and the guard was on his back before he knew it. He scrambled, trying to shake the children loose. Miles screamed in frustration.

Suddenly the guard was the one screaming. He stopped fighting them. His body jerked and twitched as though he’d been electrocuted. It lasted only a few moments before he lay still and Miles pushed himself away across the floor.

“Did I-” He gasped. Wade felt too stunned to move. It was Gwen who checked the man’s pulse. 

“He’s alive.” She said. Wade didn’t know if she was lying to save Miles the guilt, but she sounded confident either way. She reached for him, pulled him to his feet. The motion seemed to snap Wade back to himself and he grabbed each of their shoulders.

“Hey, listen to me!” He snapped. “You cannot do that again. Peter would kill me if anything happened to you two. You stay behind me from now on, got it?”

The children hesitated. They’d been alone for so long at this point. Peter had not been able to shield them from the reality of their situations. Wade knew it could be difficult to go back to relying on others after having to rely only on yourself for so long. Still, this was important. Powers or no, they were still kids.

“You understand?” He gave them a little shake and slowly they nodded their assent. 

“Let’s move.”

Their ascent back toward the surface was faster than Wade could have hoped. With nearly all the guards dead and the children in such good shape (all things considered), they moved more quickly than Wade anticipated. 

They were only one level below the exit when they were forced to skid to a halt again. Wade flung out an arm to keep the kids behind him, but he didn’t need to. They had already stopped at the sound.  _ Roaring. _ That’s what the kids had called the sound. It wasn’t a particularly human description and listening to the low growl echoing off the hall ahead of them, Wade didn’t think he’d ever heard such a noise coming from another person: an animal, or a river, or a machine, maybe, but not a person. It was deep and rumbling and loud enough that Wade was sure that whatever was making it must be huge. 

Wade held a finger to his lips to keep the kids quiet, though they hadn’t moved an inch since the growling began. He took a breath to steady himself. Whatever this was, Wade felt certain that it was what had left the carnage behind, and now it stood between them and the exit. 

They waited silently as the sound drew nearer, footsteps scraping and clicking across the ground as the growling grew louder. 

Wade leapt into the adjoining hall. He did not look before he let loose a hail of bullets, bellowing mindlessly as they ricocheted off the walls and bounced off the creature in front of him. 

Despite himself, Wade felt his heart jolt in his chest. He’d seen this thing before: the glossy black sinew, the lolling red tongue, the enormous white eyes, the rows of needle-like teeth. This was what they had seen in the desert all that time ago. And now it was loose in the halls, running rampant, and Wade  _ still _ had no idea where Peter and Riley were. 

The creature swiped at him with clawed hands, and then it  _ did _ roar. Wade dodged, and grit his teeth. He did not want to retreat. He wanted to fling himself at whatever this was because it was the first concrete enemy he could find and to hell with it. Maybe it would tear him apart, but it didn’t matter, he would heal, and maybe he could take it down before it eviscerated him. At least it would feel like he’d done something. He tried not to think about the teeth and the claws and the fact that his family was still missing.

The thing screamed and Wade screamed back, firing again and again, heedless of the fact that it seemed to have no effect, as though if he just shot at it  _ enough _ it might do something.

“Stop! Wade, stop!”

Wade grit his teeth. All he could think of was the monster’s powerful shoulders and bared fangs and slobbering mouth and  _ his family; _ his family weakened as Miles and Gwen had been, vulnerable beneath those long claws. He wasn’t even sure the voice was real. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d imagined Peter’s voice when he was trapped in the bowels of this facility. And Peter had never liked violence, it was something he might say.

“Wade, stop it, for fuck’s sake, you’re going to hit us!” That was much more difficult to dismiss. Peter had never sounded indignant in Wade’s imagination before. “All those bullets flying everywhere, jesus, Wade, do you even aim?”

Wade couldn’t ignore that. Even if it was a hallucination, even if he was imagining the whole thing, if there was even the slightest chance it was real, Wade couldn’t risk it. He’d never be able to knowingly shoot in their direction. 

He let his gun fall and the creature grabbed at him the instant it saw an opening. Wade shut his eyes. He knew he’d survive, but he didn’t want to watch his own guts hanging out again. 

“Venom, stop that! He’s not Weapon X, you dummy, he’s my mate! I showed you, you know that, don’t try to play dumb with me.”

The massive hand wrapped around Wade squeezed once and then reluctantly released him. Wade gingerly opened his eyes, still scared that he’d find only empty hallway in front of him. 

Instead, he found Peter.

Wade hadn’t realized how tightly his fear had been holding him until it released him. It felt like all his bones had been turned to string and he sagged to his knees, breathless. Alive. Peter was alive and standing on his own two feet with Riley in his arms. 

“Wade-” Peter was in front of him in the blink of an eye, kneeling, his free hand coming up to Wade’s cheek, his eyes full of concern. Wade tried to say something, but all that came out was a breathless wheeze. He wrapped a hand over the back of Peter’s neck, feeling the mating scar under his fingers. Peter’s face blurred and Wade realized he was tearing up.

Truthfully, Peter didn’t look good. He had that same half-starved look as the kids, his face pale as though he’d been sick very recently. There were other marks that Wade couldn’t bear to think about, showing worse that Weapon X had done to him, but he was  _ alive _ . He was alive and he knew Wade and he was here and he had Riley. 

A whimper escaped Wade’s lips and then it was hard to tell if Peter had wrapped his arms around him or if he had wrapped his arms around Peter, but it didn’t matter. Wade pressed his face to Peter’s neck, one hand seeking Riley out and resting against the baby’s chest to feel the rise and fall of it. The fear that Wade had been managing to hold at bay for so long crashed over him, like the current of a river come to sweep him away. What if they’d been dead? What if they were gone and Wade had been alone? What if Peter had been killed and he was left all alone with Riley? He knew that Peter had borne that reality once, when he’d had believed that Wade was the one who was dead. How had he been able to stand the knowledge? How had he found it in him to survive?

Peter was just strong that way, Wade thought. He showered Peter in kisses and tears until Peter begged off and then he scooped Riley into his own arms to give him the same treatment. The baby whined uncertainly, as though he might burst into tears at any moment. Wade tried to dial it back, swaddling Riley in one of the stolen coats and holding him close to his neck where he could easily get at Wade’s scent. 

He missed whatever reunion Peter had with Miles and Gwen. When he turned back, Peter was knotting another spare lab coat around his waist and looking determined.

“We need to get out of here,” Wade said, his voice still raw in his throat. He didn’t like being down here and now that he knew his family was safe (relatively speaking), the longer they stayed down here the more unnerved Wade felt. 

“I can’t.” 

“What?” Wade stared at Peter, unprepared for any disagreement. Peter’s eyes softened, but not much.

“Wade,” Peter said. “I can’t leave yet. They took Riley. They hurt you. They  _ hunted _ us for months. I can’t leave. Not while they are still here. I’m tired of looking over our shoulders. I can’t- I can’t live like this anymore. As long as I know they are still out there… I will  _ never _ be able to sleep again.”

Wade stared at him for a long moment. He understood. Of course, he understood, probably better than anyone else could have. He knew they had the same nightmares of what might happen- what probably  _ had _ happened- to their kid. But it was unlike Peter to suggest it. What had they done to his gentle mate to leave him convinced that killing was his only way out?

Unfortunately, Wade had a very good idea of what they might have done. He took a deep breath.

“We get the kids out first,” he said firmly.

“Of course,” Peter agreed.

“We can help!” Miles protested. “We’re not helpless anymore.”

“I know.” Peter knelt in front of the two older kids. “But I need you to take Riley out, somewhere safe. It’s important. I trust you.”

“Ellie is up there too,” Wade added. “Someone needs to look out for them. Just until we get back.”

“We won’t be long.” Peter promised and Wade had to look away from the kids. Peter was lying and if they saw Wade’s face, they would know it. Out of the corner of his eye, Wade saw Miles straighten his shoulders and Gwen nod slowly. 

They would be ok now, Wade told himself. If nothing else, Gwen and Miles and Ellie and Riley would all make it out of this alive. When it came down to it, what more could Wade ask for?

\---

As soon as Wade had explained how to find Ellie and the kids had taken off with Riley carefully clutched in their arms, Peter turned to Venom. 

“I want Ajax.” He said flatly. “Can you find him?”

Wade jerked at the sound of the name. Peter reached to grabbed his hand to comfort him, but did not look away from Venom. Venom stilled, lifting their face, scenting the air like a hound. Their head twitched minutely, seeking. 

“He cowers,” Venom said finally, licking their lips in satisfaction. 

Peter motioned them forward, tugging on Wade’s hand to get him to follow. A part of him felt guilty for pushing him. Ajax had never fully explained how he knew Wade, but Peter’s imagination supplied plenty of scenarios. None of them were good. He couldn’t blame Wade for wanting to avoid Ajax, and if Peter thought he could have left Wade and taken care of Ajax by himself, he would have. But Peter needed to see Ajax’s demise for himself and he wasn’t willing to part with his mate so quickly. 

As Peter ran through the corridors, the world seemed to slow around him. It felt a bit like running in a dream. The number of strides he took didn't match how quickly the walls passed him at all. A strange calm settled over his shoulders. He’d sworn to wring the regret from Ajax if it was the last thing he did. Now he would make good on his word.

There was only one door at the end of that hallway and Peter pulled ahead of his companions, sprinting full force. Peter felt like he’d pulled the door half off its hinges with how hard he threw it open, but that was impossible.

He could see the moment Ajax registered him, watch him reach for his rifle as though in slow-motion. Peter leapt. He slammed both feet into Ajax’s chest before the man could draw his gun, sending him sprawling back. Peter dropped heavily, rolled to his knees without thinking and pounced. Ajax was only just lifting his head when Peter crashed into him again. He could hear Ajax’s skull hit the ground with a hard thwack. His fingers found Ajax’s throat as the Alpha groaned in pain. 

The sound cut off abruptly as Peter squeezed. 

He would have sworn he could feel everything in his victim’s neck in that moment: the ridges of his spine as it disappeared into his skull, the thrum of his arteries pulsing under Peter’s hands, the muscle bunching as he struggled, the thick chord of his trachea creaking a Peter bore down on it. 

Ajax’s eyes bulged. He bucked under Peter, trying to throw him off or roll them over, but Peter held fast, knees squeezing Ajax’s ribs between them. Ajax seemed weak, somehow. Peter had been dying earlier today, brought low by illness and despair, and he was an Omega besides. Ajax was practically twice his size, well-fed, and muscled, but he floundered pathetically in Peter’s grip. 

His face was growing redder by the instant and he swiped at Peter’s face with his nails. Peter bared his teeth, snapping at him without loosening his hands around Ajax’ neck. Ajax pounded uselessly at any part of Peter that he could reach - his back, his shoulders, his head. Peter could feel the places his nails drew blood, heard the sharp sound of one of his ribs crack, but he held on. The tiny blood vessels around Ajax’s eyes were bursting and his lips were beginning to tinge blue.

“Peter!”

Peter ignored Wade. He hadn’t thought Venom and his Alpha were so far behind him, but the world was still moving so slowly. 

“Pete, stop!”

Peter shook his head, eyes locked with Ajax. 

“I warned you,” he hissed, “I told you, I’d make you regret it.”

Wade’s arm looped around Peter’s waist, trying to haul him off, but Peter screamed like a cat, twisting to try to keep his choke hold on Ajax. Wade held him tight to his chest, using his free hand to pry Peter’s fingers away from Ajax’s neck. 

“Shh, baby, shh, it’s all right. You’ve done enough,” Wade promised. Peter’s fingers loosened microscopically. Sensing an opening, Ajax made as though to swing at him, but Wade was faster. His fist connected with Ajax’s nose and the Alpha’s head fell back. Peter could hear him choking and gagging on the blood as Wade finally pulled him off Ajax. 

Wade folded Peter’s arms over his chest and held him there, as though afraid that Peter would try to break away again. Peter’s chest was heaving still, but the weight of it- of holding another person’s life in his hands and  _ trying _ to snuff it out- had suddenly dropped onto his shoulders. He felt sure he couldn’t have moved if he tried. 

Ajax writhed on the floor in front of them, hands clawing at his throat as though trying to tug loose an invisible rope. His gasps were loud, gurgling, like water trying to escape down a clogged drain. And his bloodshot eyes never left them.

“V-” Peter gasped, suddenly afraid. Ajax was dying, Peter knew he was dying, but his eyes… Ajax had finally  _ seen _ him and the recognition made Peter’s blood run cold. ‘Venom-”

Venom poured themselves across the floor, loomed over Ajax’s still twitching body. Peter saw Venom lick their chops before Wade pushed his face into the crook of his neck. 

“Don’t look.” Wade said it like a plea. Peter didn’t know what Wade thought would happen if Peter did see - he already knew Ajax’s eyes would haunt him for a long time to come - but Peter let Wade shield him even so. He’d taken this, stolen Wade’s revenge out from under him; this was the least he could do.

Still, the wet crunch that followed made Peter’s stomach churn. He knew what it would taste like now. He knew from his time with V what it felt like to snap a man in half with his teeth. 

Venom was thorough this time. The only things left of Ajax when Wade finally released him were his gun and the odd splatter of blood that had escaped. 

Carefully, Wade set Peter on the ground and he flinched as time snapped back to its usual speed. He could feel everything now: each place Ajax had clawed or beaten him. His ribs ached sharply and Peter curled an arm around them with a little groan. He was so tired. He didn’t know if he’d ever been so tired before. The world just seemed too heavy to even think of standing. 

He felt Wade run a hand through his hair, cup his cheek, tilt his face up toward him and frown when Peter winced. 

“Venom?” He asked. Venom gave a low growl of acknowledgement. “Will you stay with him? I’m gonna rig this place to blow. I’ll be back.”

Peter made a sound high in his throat to protest, but Wade only kissed his forehead before he left. His body felt too heavy to even contemplate going after him. His head hurt. His everything hurt. 

Venom settled behind Peter like an oversized hound and Peter leaned against them without thinking. It was too much work to stay upright on his own. His mind drifted, unwilling to hold on to any one thought. He might have been asleep, though Peter knew he never closed his eyes. He couldn’t.

When Wade returned, he offered his arms wordlessly to Peter and Peter clung to him without a second thought. He did not even protest when Wade scooped him up to carry him out. The only objection Peter could think of was that Peter felt sure his bones had turned to lead - how could Wade possibly be strong enough to carry him out like this?

But he did. 

They did not run from the facility. They walked out into the desert. No one lifted a finger to stop them. No one was left to object. They were probably half a mile away when the first detonation went off. 

They stopped and turned to watch as great plumes of black smoke began to rise into the sky: first one column and then another and another. It would be visible for miles. Miles and miles. Even at this distance, the smell followed soon after, not of burning flesh as Peter had feared, just of fire. 

They were gone. Not all of them, there was still the other Weapon X facility closer to Natasha’s house, but  _ this  _ one. This one where they’d tortured Wade into Deadpool and kept Peter away from his cub and broken Venom into pieces and experimented on Miles and Gwen -  _ this  _ one was gone. And the man who’d been so obsessed with them, the one Peter suspected was the driving force behind Weapon X’s persistent pursuit of Wade, he was gone too.

Peter shuddered, gripping Wade tighter while they watched the smoke slowly darkening the sky. 

“It’s over.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Peter's super-spider-powers aren't at their full capacity right now, but he does have some added strength and speed right now. He doesn't really realize that he is enhanced yet, which is why he saw the world as 'moving slowly' around him, rather than himself moving quickly. Peter isn't really going to acknowledge his own enhancements during this fic, but they are officially present!
> 
> And it's all uphill from here :)
> 
> As always, please feel free to let me know if I missed any tags!


	9. The Road (reprise)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mostly just Peter having PTSD, blood/brief harm to a baby

As soon as they were all reunited, Peter finally cracked. 

Wade had been the one crying when he’d found them in the facility, but now that they were finally out, finally together again, it was Peter who couldn’t keep it together. 

“Everything’s fine,” He choked out, wiping furiously at his streaming eyes with one hand and clinging to Riley with the other. “Everything is ok now- we’re safe- I don’t know what’s the matter with me.”

“It’s normal,” Wade tried to assure him, though he had barely let go of either of them since they broke camp for the night. “To only cry afterward, I mean. Not to get kidnapped by a bunch of fucking psychopaths. That’s not normal.”

Even so, Peter wished he could find it in him to keep a straight face. He’d done so well when they were actually in captivity (sure, he’d thrown his share of temper tantrums, but it had been more out of fury than fear). It was as though his body had been storing up the fear inside him all this time. A trickle may have escaped during their escapades, but now that they were out, his body felt free to release all the panic it had been hanging onto since he’d woken up in his cell. 

The words were on the tip of his tongue. He  _ wanted  _ to tell Wade about everything: about the trials Ajax had set for him and how they’d treated Riley and the awful things Ajax had threatened to do to them. He wanted to tell Wade how badly he’d missed him, how scared he’d been that he’d never see him again, or that  _ he _ would be the reason that Wade was recaptured. He wanted to tell him about what it had been like to be fused with V, about the horrible things he’d done while they were Vengeance. He wanted to tell Wade how grateful he was that he had come for them. 

All he managed, however, was to press his face to Wade’s neck and breath in his scent.

“I didn’t know if I’d see the sky again,” he croaked, grateful at the way Wade’s grip on them tightened. It almost didn’t matter what Wade said in return. All that mattered was that he was  _ there _ and he was solid and his voice was soothing as he crooned reassurances into Peter’s filthy hair.

\--

The following day they found another village-shell some miles away from the facility. It reminded Peter of the one he and Tony had seen just before they reunited with Wade last year. The buildings were in varying stages of demolition where they’d undoubtedly been used for target practice and the streets were uncannily quiet. Peter shuddered when they approached, remembering how he and Tony had been chased out of the last Weapon X town.

Half-naked and empty-handed as they were, Peter knew they couldn’t afford to pass the town by. They needed supplies - or even just proper clothes - if they wanted to have even the slimmest chance of surviving now. If it came down to it, Peter would still rather die out here in the desert than underground at the hands of Weapon X, but he didn’t want to die if they could help it. The thought of going through everything they had to escape only to die from exposure was too infuriating to think about. 

He  _ knew _ they needed to search the little town, but Peter couldn’t bear to enter it either. What if it wasn’t deserted? What if there were stragglers from the facility? Would they kill them on sight out of revenge for the destroyed compound, or would they drag them all back to the other Weapon X facility and toss them back into cells again? The idea of either left Peter shaking and gasping. 

“Please, let’s just go around,” he found himself begging Wade, ashamed at the way he choked on the words. Wade cradled his face in his hands, stroking his thumbs over Peter’s cheeks.

“You know we can’t,” Wade told him. “I’m not going to make you go, though. Just stay here with the kids and I’ll scope it out.”

“No!” The terror was so fierce that Peter’s knees nearly buckled beneath him. His panicked shout was loud enough to startle Riley and the baby began to wail. Peter almost wished he could join the baby in his crying, but all he could do was cling to Riley with one arm and Wade’s wrist with the other. “No, please, don’t. Please don’t go- Wade- last time- last time-”

Peter couldn’t make himself say it. Last time he’d tried to stay back and protect the kids they’d all been abducted by Weapon X. If they came back- if Peter had to face them alone again-- Or, what if they caught Wade alone? Peter wouldn’t be able to go after him. He was too broken now, too paralyzed by fear to even take another step forward. How could he help Wade if he was like this? He couldn’t even help himself. 

Wade carefully wrapped both of them in his arms, hushing them quietly, and waited patiently for Peter to stop shaking. 

In the end, Venom went alone to scout the town. Peter could tell that Wade felt guilty that their companion went in without back-up, but if anyone could handle themselves, it was Venom. Being reunited seemed to have given Venom a strength that none of the rest of them possessed, but truthfully, Peter didn’t really care. He knew he should. Venom had helped them escape - they never would have made it without them - but out of their entire group, Peter knew he would choose to sacrifice Venom again and again rather than give up any of his kids or his mate. 

From the ghost town they found some medicine, a few water filters, and bullets to replace the ones Wade had spent in the facility. They also found  _ clothes _ . They were obviously too large for Miles and Gwen, but it only took a little creativity to alter them enough to function: trimming pant legs shorter and improvising belts to cinch things in place. 

They did not, however, find anything perishable. There was no food, not even cans or old military rations, and there certainly wasn’t any water. In a sick sort of way, Peter was glad. If there had been food and water, Wade might have insisted that they stay longer to rest and refuel and Peter would’ve had no logical reason to object. Now he had an excuse to push them to move on, and he did so vehemently.

As the town faded into the distance behind them, Peter wondered how long it would be until he felt like they were far enough away, or if he’d always be looking over his shoulder like this. 

\--

Sleep was difficult in the days immediately following their escape. 

The only one who seemed to manage it regularly was Ellie. Even Riley woke screaming every few hours. The baby was easy enough to settle though. After so long alone, the simple act of finding himself cradled between his parents seemed to be enough reassurance to quiet Riley (even if it wasn’t enough to coax him back to sleep). And Riley was almost never out of Peter’s arms, so he never woke anywhere else. 

Peter felt a little guilty about Miles and Gwen. The two clung together even tighter than before and woke from their fair share of nightmares when they were able to sleep, but Peter had even less of himself to share with them now than he’d had before. It was though his time at Weapon X had scraped Peter down to the smallest version of himself and now the only thing he could extend himself for was Riley. Even Wade was doing more to comfort him than he was doing for Wade.  The only thing that let Peter sleep at all was having the smell of Wade close at hand. He knew Wade would rip anything that threatened the baby to shreds, and they’d been more vigilant about switching off watches since they escaped.

They didn’t seem to need to though. If there were any survivors from the facility they didn’t seem able or interested in coming after the little family. 

Strangely, traveling with Venom was comforting as well. The Symbiote didn’t seem to need sleep the same way humans did, and so they were nearly always on high alert. And from the time Peter had spent fused with the creature, he felt confident that he and his family were off the menu permanently. 

The morning after their escape, Wade ran a careful hand over Peter’s shoulders and back and gave him an odd frown.

“You were black and blue yesterday,” he said with a little tilt of his head. Peter blinked in surprise before he looked down at his own arms to find that, yes, the evidence of his fight had been almost entirely erased. Carefully, Peter prodded at his ribs and found that they were indeed tender, but that the sharp stab of pain from them had vanished. 

“Superpowers.” Miles said seriously with a slow nod. “Like my invisible mode.”

Peter couldn’t even contradict the boy. From everything he’d heard about the kids’ escape and everything he knew about Wade’s uncanny healing abilities, he had more than enough proof that strange things happened to those who survived Weapon X. And Peter wasn’t going to complain about finding himself less injured than he anticipated.

_ \-- _

“Ba….by,” Venom said with equal parts fascination and horror. It was not the first time he- it?- they?- had done so. Peter didn’t know how the odd symbiotic creature reproduced, but apparently it resulted in nothing comparable to a human baby.

V had been taken aback by Miles and Gwen when they’d seen them, but they’d been  _ beside _ themself when they’d finally gotten the chance to take a look at Ellie and Riley. 

Peter had hardly been able to let Riley out of his arms since they’d escaped. He could barely even close his eyes for fear that someone would snatch the cub away from him the instant he let his guard down.  It was only now, after several days had passed that Peter was starting to let anyone besides Wade take Riley. Really, Ellie was the only one asking to take Riley anyway, but Peter had felt guilty for not immediately letting her see that he was fine for herself.

It must have been hard for her too. Peter certainly couldn’t imagine being alone for days on end in the middle of the desert at that age. It would have been scary even if she hadn’t had to worry about what was happening to the rest of them or that Weapon X might come back for her.

Wade must have said something to her though, because Ellie had been quiet for the last few days even though she obviously wanted to hold the baby again. 

Day four was the soonest Peter could bring himself to be so far from Riley. It was worth it, however, to see Ellie’s face light up when Peter finally offered to let her hold him again. Before Peter could even ask, she’d found a spot on the ground to sit and dragged their meager belongings around her the way Peter used to arrange them to help prop her up.

Riley cried when Peter let go of him. He always did this now, even with Wade, although he usually quieted if Wade held him up close to his neck so the baby could scent him. 

He was slower to calm with Ellie, but Peter stayed beside them and stroked Riley’s head until he settled. The entire time, Ellie cooed and whispered little nonsense phrases: “oh, Baby Riley, oh, sad little baby, it’s ok.”

Slowly, Riley quieted, though he still whimpered pathetically when Peter tried to move away. Ellie tried singing to him, just like she used to. Peter was a little impressed she still remembered so many of the songs Wade had sung.

Finally the baby settled enough for Peter to step away, though he still watched carefully. When she ran out of songs, Ellie started to talk to Riley. At first it was the same comforting little phrases as before, and then devolved into the wordless babble that usually got Riley excited enough to try parroting the words. Riley, however, just stared up at Ellie with his big brown eyes, silent save for the occasional whine.

“He isn’t talking,” Ellie said, looking up at Peter nervously. Peter didn’t bother to correct that Riley  _ couldn’t  _ talk yet - he knew what she meant.

“No,” he agreed unhappily. 

Riley hadn’t really “spoken” since they escaped. He still cried, and they could still catch his attention with the sounds of their voices, but he hadn’t even attempted any of his usual babbling. It made Peter worry, but he didn’t know if there was anything he could even do.

“Why don’t you keep talking to him though,” Peter said, trying and failing to sound hopeful, “Maybe that will make him feel better.”

Wade came and settled himself beside Peter on the ground. Peter could feel the tension still running through Wade’s body, but when he dropped an arm over Peter’s shoulders, Peter leaned into him gratefully. 

That  _ safe _ touch was about the only thing Peter found comforting these days. He thought he understood Wade a little better now too, the sort of wreck he’d been right after he escaped from Weapon X. Guilt swam toward the surface of Peter’s mind. They’d been in such immediate danger after that that there hadn’t been a good moment for Peter to just sit and hold Wade like this. No wonder his mate had worried that it was a rejection. 

Peter thought of trying to apologize for it now, but couldn’t think of the words and didn’t want to dredge up anything painful when he was still so limited in his ability to offer comfort to anyone but Riley. And even that was as much about comforting himself as the baby.

The longer Ellie held Riley without any ill consequence, the more the baby seemed to accept it. Peter didn’t know if he was old enough to actually remember Ellie, or if he could sense both of his parents nearby, or if it was just that he was warm and not in pain for once, but it felt good to see that the world hadn’t fallen apart the second Peter let Riley out of his arms.

It was then that Venom had come to crouch and stare at the smallest children.

After an initial panic when Venom first appeared, Ellie had adjusted very quickly to the creature’s presence. It was a testament to how brave she was or maybe how much she trusted Wade and Peter that Venom didn’t seem to phase her at all.

She seemed to like talking to the creature too. It wasn’t often that she knew more than someone else and she seemed to take great pride in being able to tell Venom all about ‘Baby Riley.’ Peter guessed that Eddie found the Symbiote’s reaction entertaining, because the human half didn’t seem to be offering up any information. Peter was sure that Eddie must know at least a little about human babies, but he seemed to be keeping that knowledge to himself in favor of letting V make their own inquiries.

Venom did better with Ellie than Peter anticipated. They seemed to be listening intently to Ellie’s explanations (“he’s too little to eat real food so Peter has to feed him until he gets big and strong and gets teeth,”) and asked endless questions (“it does not have teeth?”). They even kept their rows of needle-like teeth covered for the most part and kept the tongue-wagging to a minimum, although Peter guessed this was more Eddie’s specific influence than V’s. 

Ellie even tried to teach them the words to a few songs, although she had much less success with this than with other things. Venom’s vocal chords just didn’t seem to be formed in a way that was conducive to singing. 

When Ellie offered to let Venom hold the baby, Peter didn’t immediately think it would be a problem. Venom was on their side. Peter had seen first hand the help they’d received from the creature and he knew that showing them memories of Riley had been part of what convinced Venom to join him rather than kill him. Venom did not mean any harm.

No, Venom didn’t mean any harm, but Venom also lacked the sensibilities of an ordinary human. 

When Venom reached for the baby it was with a slow, cautious, oversized hand, which closed very gently around the baby’s leg. It was only when Venom began lifting Riley into the air by said leg that Peter realized the creature had no intention of trying to hold the baby properly. 

“ _ Venom!” _ Peter snapped, panic surging in his chest. 

Venom’s head jerked toward Peter guiltily as they instinctively tightened their grip on Riley’s leg. Riley screamed and Venom instantly let go.

Peter didn’t even stand, just skidded across the dirt the few feet it took to reach them, all but shoving Venom out of the way. It felt like he’d gone deaf. He  _ knew _ Ellie was crying and Venom was making some sort of incomprehensible sound, but it felt as though he couldn’t hear them. All he could hear was Riley screaming his head off. 

“Oh no, oh no, no,” Peter chanted under his breath. Ellie still held the baby, but she was nearly hysterical at the sudden turn of events. Peter couldn’t stop seeing those long claws, those awful long claws, slicing into Riley’s leg when Venom had startled. He couldn’t stop thinking of Strange’s voice when he examined Tony’s wound in the same place on his thigh.  _ Major arteries. Blood loss.  _ **_Consequences._ ** Peter’s hands were shaking as he pressed down on the injury, watching blood well between his fingers. 

“He’s crying. He’s awake.” Wade was beside him, hands hovering, “That’s a good sign, Pete, it is. He’s still awake.”

Awake wasn’t good enough. They had  _ just  _ gotten him back. He was supposed to be  _ safe _ now and their poor pup was already bleeding and in pain. He tried to remember if Strange had said anything about how to  _ treat _ this sort of thing. Pressure? Peter was applying pressure, but was it enough? Should he press harder? What if he pressed too hard and he hurt Riley more?

Riley continued to scream, but now he was waving his little arms madly, probably confused as to why he wasn’t  _ immediately _ scooped up and swaddled. 

“Shh, baby, don’t move so much,” Wade whispered, placing a hand over the baby’s stomach. His hand was so large it covered nearly all of Riley’s torso. Riley still cried, but the weight of his sire’s hand seemed enough comfort to keep him from flailing.

Peter stroked Riley’s forehead with one hand, keeping the other clamped over his leg, leaving light brown streaks of half-dried blood. He needed to calm down. He needed to think. He couldn’t help Riley if he couldn’t figure out what to do.

Riley’s cries began to quiet, but rather than finding it comforting as he normally would, Peter couldn’t help but feel dread building in his chest. If Riley was still crying, he was still awake. If he stopped crying, then what?

Peter brushed his fingers again over the cut. And then stopped.

“Wade,” He said urgently.

Wade barely masked his own terror when he looked up and Peter.

“Wade- Wade, tell me I’m going crazy, feel…”

Peter grabbed Wade’s hand in his bloody one, guiding it to Riley’s leg. He watched Wade gently feel around the wound, watching his face for any sign that he felt it too. Peter knew the instant Wade discovered it.

It was as though Wade was a puppet and someone had cut all his strings, the way he sagged with relief.

“Oh, thank god,” he breathed, brushing the bloody but  _ uninjured _ spot on Riley’s thigh reverently. “Thank god.”

Riley was still crying, probably still upset by the lack of comfort and coddling, but now that he was assured that it wouldn’t hurt him, Peter scooped the baby up in his arms. He leaned into Wade’s chest so the Alpha could get his arms around Riley too. 

“He gets it from you?” Peter asked quietly. .

“I guess so..." 

Peter didn’t know how that could possibly work. Wade hadn’t developed his regenerative powers until after Peter had gotten pregnant. He’d assumed Weapon X had injected Wade with something to give him his extraordinary healing, like they’d injected him and the kids, but what if they hadn’t? What if it was something deep in Wade’s genes that he’d actually been able to pass on to Riley? But then, Riley definitely hadn’t had this ability before. He’d been just as prone to bumps and bruises as any other baby. Hadn’t he? 

Peter realized he didn’t know. He hadn’t been around basically any other babies, he had nothing to compare this to. Peter looked up at Venom, who sat on their haunches like a chastised dog.

The creature didn’t look particularly concerned by the situation. Was it because Symbiote empathy worked differently, or because they emoted concern in a way Peter didn’t understand? Or, could it be that Venom knew Riley would be fine?

Peter remembered fusing with V. He remembered how the creature had been inside him and all around him, how it had known he was dying. The injections that had given Gwen and Miles their powers, had been killing Peter. Until V had changed that, somehow. It had done the same for Riley when it absorbed him as well. Did V have the ability to change them on a deeper level? Not just to heal lacerations or broken bones, but to turn on the regenerative gene that had just erased a potentially life-threatening wound?

In the end, there was no way to know for sure and Peter found that he didn’t care. He was glad of the ability, no matter where it came from. Though he never wanted to put it to the test,  _ ever _ again.

Suddenly something small latched onto Wade’s elbow.

Ellie. Peter remembered that he’d  _ pushed _ her to get to Riley and instantly felt guilty, especially when he realized that the little girl was  _ sobbing. _

“Baby— Riley?” She cried with deep gasping breaths.

“He’s ok,” Wade assured her. “You’re not in trouble.”

Until that moment, It hadn’t even occurred to Peter to be angry at anyone, and certainly not Ellie. Now that he’d thought about it though, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of outrage. Not at Ellie. At Venom.

Carefully, Peter let Wade take Riley and stepped away, suddenly unsure if he could keep a rein on his temper. He watched from a slight distance as Wade crouched down to show Ellie that Riley was alright. He even let her hold him again, to show she wasn’t in trouble. Still, his voice was firm when he spoke.

“Ellie. You’re not in trouble, but you have to understand that you can’t let anyone else hold Riley without asking me or Peter, ok?” He said sternly, “Do you understand?”

Ellie was still tearful when she nodded.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked quietly.

“No,” Wade said with a little sigh, sitting down in front of her and Riley.

“Is Peter mad at me?” She asked. Wade glanced over his shoulder at Peter. Peter knew his agitation was still written plainly in his body language, but Wade knew him well.

“No, I don’t think he’s mad at  _ you.” _ Wade told her.

—

“You are angry with us.”

It was not a question. Peter folded his arms, looking Venom over with narrowed eyes.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Why? The little one is unhurt.”

It had only been a few hours, but Peter’s anger still hadn’t quite subsided. He stood some yards away from the rest of the group under the guise of keeping watch. Wade held Riley. He would be safe.

“But he  _ was  _ hurt,” Peter said, face hardening. “Even if he’s ok now, he still got hurt.”

“We knew he would be fine,” Venom grumbled petulantly. 

“How could you possibly know that?” Peter asked, his words coming harsher now. “How could you  _ possibly  _ know that he’d be ok? You barely even knew what a baby  _ was.  _ How could you know what would hurt it?”

Venom  _ fidgeted _ . Despite being some kind of massive goo monster with fangs and talons and superhuman strength, Venom still looked cowed in the face of Peter’s outrage.

“We did not do it on purpose,” they said, “You  _ startled _ us. It was an accident.”

“I don’t care,” Peter told them. “I  _ told  _ you how vulnerable he was. I told you that he was helpless. When we were melded, I  _ showed _ it to you. You should have known better.”

“We… forgot.” Venom finally said uncomfortably. 

“Well,  _ don’t  _ forget again.” Peter snapped.

\--

Venom stayed with them for another week after that. The Symbiote was still attentive to Ellie and curious about Riley, but they never tried to hold the baby again. Peter could see that the creature grew edgier the longer they traveled together until one day they turned to Peter. 

“We approach Fisk territory,” they growled. Peter nodded, unsure of the significance. He knew of Fisk territory, of course, and his heart quickened a little at the mention of it. Fisk territory lay directly east of Osborn territory, where he’d lived with May. They were getting close.

He hadn’t expected Miles to gasp and grab Peter’s free arm. 

“I live next to Fisk territory!” He said in a rush. “On the border! Right right  _ right _ on the border!”

“Looks like you’ll be our first stop,” Wade told him with a grin. Miles’ face was practically bursting with excitement, almost as though he were caught between the urge to laugh and cry.

“You aren’t coming with us though, are you?” Peter asked Venom, watching them carefully. They shook their huge black head and licked their chops. 

“We have people left on our list.” They said. They paused and then added, as though Peter could have missed the subtext, “People to eat.”

“You know you can’t just eat every problem you run into,” Peter said with a roll of his eyes. 

“It has not failed us yet,” Venom pointed out and it was kind of hard to argue with the logic of that when eating people was precisely how they’d escaped from the Weapon X facility. 

“When are you leaving?” Peter asked instead.

“Soon. When we reach the true border.”

\--

Venom’s departure was largely uneventful. Ellie spent nearly an hour lecturing Venom on who she thought it was and was not ok to eat and Peter wondered if she really understood how literal Venom was being about their appetites. Wade had awkwardly admitted that he’d gone into more detail than strictly necessary when discussing his plans to rescue them with Ellie (and besides that, she’d seen Wade die more than once), so she was probably more familiar with violence than any five-year-old ought to be.

Even so, Venom was surprisingly patient with her and listened to the little girl listing out crimes she deemed worthy of getting eaten for. 

When Venom finally did take off, loping off into the desert in that unnatural hound-like run of theirs, Ellie only smiled and waved and called after them, “Remember to only eat bad people!”

\--

  
  


Despite the fact that Venom was more or less a bloodthirsty symbiotic monster-creature, Peter found that it was a little harder to sleep at night without them. Venom might have been dangerous, but they were dangerous and on the same side as Peter and Wade. It was all too easy to think about how quickly someone could overpower their little pack now that Venom was gone. 

But no one attacked them in the following days. 

Since Miles had little sense of how far north or south along the border of Fisk territory his town lay, the going was slow. Miles grew more and more despondent with each day that passed without sighting any familiar landmarks.

“It’s gonna be ok,” Wade promised him, “We are going to get you home. We’ll run into it eventually as long as we stick to the border.”

Miles nodded, but he looked unconvinced. Peter didn’t really blame the boy. He didn’t know exactly how long they’d been underground, but it must have been months by now since they rescued the children from that truck. Who knew how long Miles had been away from his family before that? Being so close but having no timeframe would have been draining on an adult, let alone a kid.

But Wade was also right. They could just keep trekking up and down Fisk territory for as long as it took to find the town. Ellie certainly didn’t seem like she was in any hurry to get home and Gwen still hadn’t given the slightest hint as to where she was from either. And, though May’s house may still have been their ultimate goal, it wasn’t as though she was expecting them. 

They could take as long as they needed.


	10. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (brief reminder that this is Spider-verse Miles & family, so characterizations are based off that)

It took less than a week for Miles to leap at the sight of a large junk yard sitting outside yet another small town. 

“There!” He cried, “That’s it! That’s where I was playing when they caught me! I know it is!”

All of Miles’ energy seemed to return to him at once. He looked like he might vibrate out of his skin with excitement until Wade let him run ahead of them with the promise to stay in sight. Having even Miles out of arm's’ reach was hard for Peter, but Miles’ joy was contagious. For the first time it felt like they really had a solid chance of success. 

Miles skidded to a stop at the edge of town and paced while he waited for the rest of them to catch up. His excitement slowly began to fade, however, as they began wandering the streets. They let Miles take the lead, since he was most familiar with the town, but his steps slowed and he hesitated longer at each intersection the longer they walked.

“I don’t know,” Miles said, trying and failing to keep the tears from welling in his eyes. “I don’t know the way from here.”

“It’s ok, Miles, we’ll find it,” Peter tried to reassure him, “This is the right town, right?”

“Yeah…” Miles wiped at his eyes to no avail.

“Then they’ve got to be here somewhere,” Peter said, hoisting Riley a little higher on his back. “We  _ will _ find them eventually. And who knows? Maybe you’ll recognize some people and they can give us directions or something.”

“Maybe,” Miles said, but he didn’t look particularly convinced. 

“Let’s keep looking.”

So they looked. At first Ellie entertained herself by pointing to random buildings and asking Miles if he recognized them, but after about the hundredth time that Miles shook his head, she began to tire of the game. More than once they were forced to pause so that Peter and Wade could feed or change Riley. Miles didn’t complain, but it was easy to see how anxious it made him not to be continuing the search.

By the time the sun was beginning to sink, they still had yet to find anything and their feet ached. Finally, they had little choice but to call for a longer rest. They needed to eat and recuperate if they were going to continue. And even if this was Mile’s hometown, it was unfamiliar territory to Peter and Wade. Peter, at least, was still all too aware of how difficult it would be to deal with any sort of trouble with four kids in tow. Even if two or three of them were potentially superpowered.

They decided to pick an alley between two occupied buildings to rest in. There were abandoned buildings that they could have chosen or empty lots, but they were too wary of anyone else who might have claimed the space without their knowing. 

Miles could not sit still. At first, Peter kept calling him to get back in the alley, where they were at least out of sight, but Wade eventually stopped him. 

“Just don’t go where we can’t see you. Please.” Wade said. Miles nodded and started pacing a slow circuit in front of the alley, happier to accommodate the request when it meant he could keep moving and didn’t have to pretend to sit still. 

To Peter’s surprise, Gwen stayed sitting next to him instead of following Miles. She had been quiet all day, Peter realized. True, Gwen was always quiet, but she was usually quiet and glued to Miles’ side. Peter was about to ask about it when he heard Miles give a startled shout. 

By the time Peter looked up, Miles was out of sight and Ellie had already dashed after him. Gwen and Wade were on their feet in an instant and Peter, slower for having Riley to carry, brought up the rear.

Peter didn’t know what he expected to see when he rounded the corner, but it wasn’t this.

A few feet away, a tall man lay half sprawled on his back with an expression of complete bewilderment. Miles lay half on top of the man, clinging to his shirt like a burr. Finally, there was Ellie, who stood to the man’s side and  _ whaled _ on his shoulder with an unending stream of ‘LET GO OF HIM!’ Despite the fact that Miles seemed to be holding onto the man rather than the other way around.

Finally, Ellie moved her target from the man’s shoulder, to his face. Peter couldn’t imagine getting hit by a five year old hurt that badly, but it was enough to snap the man out of his daze. He grabbed her wrist roughly and glared at her. In retaliation, Ellie plunked herself stubbornly on the ground.

“Ellie!” Wade called. It was equal parts reprimanding and exasperated. Ellie looked back at them guiltily.

“He was gonna grab Miles!” She whined.

“Miles…?” The man echoed softly, staring down at the top of Miles’ fluffy head of hair, which was about all he could see with Miles’ face buried in his shirt. “ _ Miles?” _

“‘Ncle Aar’n,” Miles whimpered, his voice muffled by the man’s shirt. The man let go of Ellie very suddenly, both hands going to Miles’ shoulder to peel him off and get a look at his face. Peter couldn’t see from where he was standing, but from the way Miles' shoulders were shaking, Peter guessed he was crying. Peter  _ could _ see the man’s reaction to Miles though: the desperation, the hope, the shock, the disbelief, the relief, all flitting over his face in a matter of seconds.

“Miles!” The man sat up, pulling Miles into his lap and holding onto him tightly, which only seemed to make Miles cry harder. Several times he pulled Miles away just to get another look at his face, but each time pulled him back into the combination bear-hug and gentle cradle of his arms. “Miles- Miles- we all thought- and Jeff- and your  _ mom _ \- we gotta get you  _ home _ , little man, we gotta get you  _ home.” _

Ellie waited as patiently as she was capable of, but at the mention of taking Miles anywhere she sprung to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

“Hey! You can’t take Miles away!” She cried indignantly.

“ _ Ellie, _ ” Wade said again, definitely exasperated this time. He stepped forward to scoop her up into his hip, ignoring her frustrated scream.

“He can’t! He can’t! Miles has to see his parents! He can’t take Miles away!” She shouted at the top of her little lungs. Wade tried to pat her back, but there was little to be done to console her. Eventually she gave up and threw herself at Wade’s shoulder to sob.

“He’s not taking him away, Ellie,” Wade sighed. “He’s gonna help us take him home.”

This was a little bit of a stretch, since they hadn’t actually exchanged words yet, but it was obvious that he and Miles knew each other and that Miles trusted him.

“Miles, can you introduce us?” Peter asked, when Miles had calmed a little. Miles nodded shakily.

“This is my Uncle Aaron.” He said. Peter didn’t know if ‘uncle’ meant blood relative or not. It didn’t really matter either way, Peter decided. The bond between the two seemed real regardless of the details.

“Miles?” Aaron prompted. He looked torn between disbelief and elation at getting to address his nephew again and suspicion toward the strangers Miles had been with.

“That’s Peter and Wade,” Miles supplied. “And my friends, Ellie and Gwen. And the baby is Riley. Peter and Wade have been taking care of us.”

“Can you help us find his parents?” Peter asked, deciding it was better to cut right to the chase. “We’ve been looking, but…”

Aaron nodded. Slowly, he stood, grunting as he struggled to do so without letting Miles go. In the end, Miles was too big for Aaron to carry in his arms, but Miles easily accepted a piggyback ride instead. Aaron seemed loathe to let Miles out of reach, and the feeling seemed to be mutual.

They fell into a line, Miles and Aaron at the front, then Wade, still carrying a distraught Ellie. Finally, Peter and Riley brought up the rear. Gwen, surprisingly, hung back beside Peter. Peter made another mental note to ask her about it when he got the chance.

—

“We missed you so much, Miles,” Aaron was saying. He’d been keeping up a steady stream of commentary while they walked. “Your mom and dad- you know, we threw you a birthday party.”

“I missed my birthday?” Miles asked, disappointment barely registering through the daze he seemed to be in at the idea of finally getting to go home.

“I bet they’ll throw another one,” Aaron said quickly. Miles was distracted from the thought when they began to slow in front of a building.

“This is my house!” Miles burst out. “Peter! Gwen! This is my house!”

Miles squirmed until Aaron let him slide off his back and he took off running. Just as suddenly, he skidded to a stop and stood frozen in front of the door.

“Go on,” Aaron encouraged him, but Miles continued to hesitate.

“What if they’re mad at me?” Miles said softly. There was a note in his voice that betrayed a deeper, more complicated, fear but the boy couldn’t seem to give voice to it. 

“They won’t be mad,” Aaron tried to reassure him, but it didn’t seem to matter. Whatever awful scenario Miles had built in his head had already taken root and left him shaking like a leaf. 

In the end, he stood behind Aaron, almost like he was trying to hide himself, while his uncle rang the bell. He looked unbearably young like that, hunched behind Aaron’s legs, peering around him with obvious dread. The silence before they finally heard footsteps on the stairs and then the slow turn of the lock seemed interminably long. 

The door only opened a crack. A woman, maybe fifteen years older than Peter and Wade, with a lot of dark curly hair, peered out suspiciously. Her face relaxed when she recognized Aaron and she let the door swing open properly. She opened her mouth to address him and Peter swore he could pinpoint the precise moment her eyes landed on Miles and she stopped breathing. 

She sat down hard, wide-eyed, and then she was shouting back up the stairs.

“Jeffery! Jeffery!”

Her voice was so raw with emotion that was little surprise that ‘Jeffery’ came barreling down the stairs so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. He was already in the process of drawing a gun, tension written in every line of his body at the desperation in his mate’s voice, when he too seemed to be arrested, frozen in place at the sight of Miles.

“Miles?”

Miles took a hesitant step toward them.

“Mami? Dad?” His voice was so small, so scared, it nearly broke Peter’s heart to hear it. The woman, Miles’ mother, Peter realized, gave a choked off sound. 

All at once, Miles flung himself into his mother’s arms, burying his face in her neck just as Riley did when he sought comfort. His father, Jeffery, sank down behind them. He was so large that it was easy for him to wrap his arms around both mate and cub.

While Jeffery stayed nearly silent, overwhelmed by Miles’ sudden appearance, Miles’ mother kept up a soft litany of, “oh, Miles, oh mijo, oh my baby.”

Peter took a step toward Wade. Suddenly he wanted Riley in his arms instead of on his back. The sight of the family was  _ good,  _ but utterly gut wrenching to look at. Is this what he and Wade had looked like when  _ they _ had been reunited? Somehow it made Peter’s throat feel tight to watch.

Finally, Jeffery lifted his gaze to Aaron. 

“Thank you,” He said solemnly. Aaron couldn’t seem to think of anything to say, so he nodded.

It was only then that Jeffery looked up and seemed to notice Peter and Wade for the first time. His hackles were up in an instant, setting Miles’ mother on edge as well. 

“Aaron,” Jeffery said slowly, narrowing his eyes. “Who’s this?”

Aaron stiffened. He must have been too caught up in seeing Miles again to really question Peter and Wade’s presence, and Peter guessed he was somewhat embarrassed about it now. With all three of the other adults on edge, Peter could smell them now. All three were Alphas, he realized. No wonder Miles was so precious to them. Any child would be coveted, but Alpha fertility was notoriously low when it came to carrying children. Conceiving Miles would have been difficult if they had been trying to do it on purpose.

Peter’s train of thought derailed suddenly when he realized Jeffery was starting to feel around behind him for the gun he’d dropped earlier. Peter grabbed Wade’s arm without thinking, jostling both Riley and Ellie (who had yet to demand to be let down), but Wade had already seen. 

“Jeffery, my love, they’ve got  _ children _ ,” Miles’ mother said sharply. Despite this, she instinctively tucked Miles’ a little closer to her chest. 

“Yes, and clearly not all of them are theirs,” Jeffery answered. 

“I’m Wade,” Wade said quickly, setting Ellie on the ground. She whined, but Wade brushed a hand over her head and gestured his head back toward Peter and Riley. Ellie straightened with importance. It had happened often enough that she knew Wade’s gesture for her to “guard” Riley, and she obediently glued herself to Peter’s leg.

Wade took a step forward, hands palm up but putting himself firmly between the agitated Alphas and the rest of their little pack. If they hadn’t had so many children with them, Peter would have objected, but they  _ did _ still have all these kids with them and Wade had his healing powers. Not that he thought it would come to that. At least, he  _ hoped _ it wouldn’t come to that. 

“This is my mate, Peter. Our pup, Riley. And this is Ellie and Gwen,” Wade continued calmly. 

“They  _ saved _ us, Mami,” Miles piped up. His family turned to him instantly. He was still teary eyed and his voice was rough from crying, but he was looking back at Peter and Wade with something close to a tired smile. “We fought bad guys together and we made friends with a monster and we blew up a science jail.”

His parents stared at him in utter confusion until Miles began to shrink back under their gaze. 

“Well, we did…” He said softly. 

“Venom’s not a monster! It’s our friend!” Ellie burst out just when the silence threatened to become too awkward.

“That’s what I said,” Miles huffed.

“Nu-Uh!”

“Yea-huh!”

“No!”

“Why don’t we continue this upstairs,” Miles’ mother suggested before the bickering could escalate further.

“Rio!” Jeffery objected, but Rio fixed him with a look that left no room for argument.

“You can come too, Aaron,” she said primly

Wade sent Peter a look and Peter nodded. The Alphas might still be agitated, but Peter thought that Rio and Jeffery’s home was probably safer than taking their chances outdoors. Besides, the kids were exhausted from trekking all over the place today. If Peter could get them a full night’s sleep, he’d take it.

—

The apartment was moderately sized. Unlike May’s house where Peter he’d grown up, it was not a pristine time capsule from before the Fall. It was, however, obviously well cared for and lived in. The belongings were old, patched, or handmade, but it looked like there was pride taken in their construction. It wasn’t something slapped together to hold them through the next few days, but something considered that would hopefully last a long time. 

Peter instantly liked it, even to the point of a little jealousy. He wanted something like this for him and Wade one day, somewhere lived in where Peter wouldn’t be terrified to take his eyes off Riley. 

The living room was generously sized, with almost enough seats for everyone. Miles sat between his parents on the sofa, while Aaron took one of the armchairs. After another wordless exchange with Wade, Peter sunk into the last armchair. And not a moment too soon.

Riley had been cooperative up until this point, but at finding himself in a place saturated with unfamiliar smells he began to fuss.

Peter scooped the baby up, hushing and bouncing him, keeping him close to his own scent glands.

“Can I come up?” Ellie asked hopefully. 

“Get Wade to help you,” Peter nodded. If Ellie could calm Riley it would be two birds with one stone while they kept each other occupied.

Wade hoisted Ellie onto Peter’s suddenly very full lap and Peter grunted while she squirmed into position, settling herself so she could drape her arms over Riley in a mimicry of holding him without taking any of his weight.

“Sorry,” Peter said quietly to the other adults. This was supposed to be about Miles, after all. 

With the entire family all seated so close together, it was easier to see the resemblance now. Miles looked a bit like his father, who in turn looked like Aaron, but Miles looked more like his mother to Peter, save for the color of his skin and texture of his hair. Much of Miles’ sweet nature seemed to make a lot more sense watching the way he curled up against his mother’s side.

“So what exactly is going on here?” Jeffery asked as soon as Riley seemed to make up his mind not to start crying (at least not yet). 

Silent glances were exchanged between Peter, Wade, and the older kids, but none of them quite knew what to say. So much had happened. And even if they came right out and said that they were trying to get the rest of the kids home, there was no guarantee that anyone would believe them. Peter didn’t blame them in the least. If their positions were swapped, he would have been  _ more  _ than suspicious of anyone who showed up with his kid after months of absence. On the other hand, the longer they took coming up with an answer, the more agitated Miles’ family seemed to become.

It was Miles who broke the silence this time.

“I’m sorry, Mami!” 

He sounded so panicked and so upset that he instantly captured everyone’s attention. To Peter’s distress, he saw that Miles looked like he might be working up to tears again.

“I was playing farther away where you told me not to go and then a guy said you were in trouble and I had to follow him to help you but it was a bad guy and they got me, I’m sorry, I’ll never go where you tell me not to again!”

Peter’s heart sank. Had Miles been carrying this by himself this whole time? Did he really think that his abduction was his own fault? Peter wanted to go to him, offer comfort and reassurance, but was brought up short by the realization that that was his  _ parents’ _ job now. Of course, Peter was delighted that they’d actually managed to reunite the family, but the thought still stung. 

“Oh, Miles,” Rio crooned, wrapping her arms around her son and rocking them back and forth. Peter could still hear the little heartbroken whispers of ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ coming from Miles, but each time his mother smoothed his hair and held him and promised that it was alright. 

Jeffery, on the other hand, seemed all the more upset by his son’s distress. Peter understood the feeling. What was worse than having your kid in pain and not knowing what you could do to alleviate it? That said, it still made his grip tighten on the kids still in his lap to smell the aggression creeping back into the Alpha’s scent. 

“What. Happened?” Jeffery asked again, eyes narrowing. Again, Peter and Wade didn’t know what to say. How much could they tell? How much  _ should  _ they tell? How much of everything awful had been their fault? How much would Miles’ parents blame them for? Surely, not everything, but Peter was still on edge. He’d been on edge for so long. Even if he knew in his mind that they were probably safe, he couldn’t help but remember the absolute frenzy he and Wade had gone into when someone hurt Riley. Would this family do the same when they learned what had happened to Miles?

Their lack of an answer only seemed to agitate Jeffery more. 

Then Rio pulled Miles away from her and tilted his face up to look at her. Her face was very serious and she began talking very quietly and very fast. At first, Peter thought his own hearing must be failing him, but he quickly realized she was speaking to him in Spanish. Peter remembered how Miles hadn’t had any trouble keeping up with the Spanish songs Wade and Ellie sang on the journey, and it suddenly made sense. Peter could tell from the tone that she was questioning him, and from her expression that it wasn’t about anything  _ good _ , but that was the extent of his knowledge. 

Wade, however, was shifting uncomfortably the longer Rio spoke. Peter tried to tell what the odd flavor permeating Wade’s scent was - something between fear and anger, but not as strong… embarrassment? The embarrassment (and Peter was suddenly very sure that that’s what it was) spiked when Ellie sat straight up and catapulted herself off Peter’s lap. She took a familiar pose, hands on her hips, glaring as fiercely as her round little face could manage.

“That’s not true!” She burst out. “Wade would never! He only hurts bad guys!”

“Ellie…” Wade covered his face with one hand, resigned. 

“Don’t you say that about my-” Ellie continued self-importantly, brought up short only when she fumbled over what to call Wade. “-Wade.”

In the midst of the embarrassment and the tension and the nervousness, Peter felt his heart do a little flip. For a moment, it almost sounded like she was about to call Wade ‘dad’. 

Miles looked over at them for a moment, and then he turned and spoke directly to his mother, all but ignoring everyone else in the room.

He told her about how Weapon X had put him in a truck with other kids, how he’d befriended Ellie and Gwen, how there had been a fight. He did not say how the rest of the children died, but he told her about how Gwen had tried to protect him and how Peter and Wade had found them and fed them and promised to take them home (“See, Mami, I remembered what you said about finding a family to help me and it worked!”). He told her about all the long days spent walking through the desert. He told them about seeing Venom’s escape attempt from a distance.

Finally he reached the part where Weapon X had abducted them again and his voice slowed. His eyes took on a faraway look as he trailed off. Peter felt a shudder run through him at the memory. It still felt like the second he let his guard down, someone would be there to rip Riley from his arms and toss him back into some cage down beneath the earth. 

“They… Did things to us,” Miles managed to get out, his voice halting. “I can  _ do _ things now.”

Jeffery and Rio had been holding each other’s hands tightly while Miles spoke, their faces growing tighter as the story seemed to get worse and worse, but this last sentence brought them up short. It was so vague.

“What- what kind of things, Miles?” Rio asked carefully. Miles fidgeted, looking to Peter and Wade for help, but Peter didn’t know how to go about explaining it either. It seemed impossible. 

“Super powers.” Ellie said quietly, nodding wisely. 

“Super powers?” Jeffery echoed, disbelief edging into his voice. 

“Here.” Gwen stepped forward.

She’d been so quiet and standing so still next to Peter’s chair that she’d been all but invisible. Peter, to his shame, had almost forgotten she was there. She stood up a little straighter, squared her shoulders, then examined the ceiling, thinking. Despite their obvious skepticism, it was clear that Miles’ family was intrigued, especially since neither Peter nor Wade had contradicted Miles’ claim. 

Gwen gave a little nod, took a deep breath, and jumped. She twisted in the air, like she was about to do a backflip, but at the peak of the jump she stuck her legs straight up toward the ceiling. Her feet hit with a resounding slap and she stuck, pulling herself up until the tips of her fingers clung to the ceiling as well and she stared down at them in a crouch, her pale blonde hair hanging straight down.

Someone shrieked. 

Wordlessly, Gwen slowly began to let herself down, this time unsticking her feet first and hanging from the palms of her hands for a few seconds before she landed in another crouch. She stood up again quickly, glanced around at all of them, and then stalked back to stand by Peter’s chair. Her hands were clenched into fists, Peter noticed, but now wasn’t the time to say anything.

For a moment, no one spoke, staring at the ceiling where Gwen had stood as though expecting the answers to be written there. 

“Can you do that, Miles?” Jeffery asked slowly. Mile’s fidgeting got worse. 

“Sorta. I’m- I’m not as good at it as Gwen, but I can do other things too. Like. Um…”

“Do you want to show them your strength?” Peter asked after another moment of Miles’ silent fidgeting. “You can use me and Riley as weights?”

Miles nodded and slid off the couch, while Peter slowly got to his own feet, adjusting his grip on Riley. 

“Here, let’s really show them what you got,” Wade said, trying to sound encouraging. With a grunt, Wade hefted Peter into his arm, carrying him princess style while Peter held Riley. “Ok, bud, whenever you’re ready.”

Miles hesitated for another second before nodding sharply. He bent and wrapped his arms around Wade’s knees.

“Remember to lift with your kn-- oof!” Peter gasped as his head knocked gently against the ceiling. Miles was still figuring out exactly how his new strength worked and had clearly overestimated how difficult it would be to lift the three of them. 

“Sorry,” Miles murmured from somewhere below them. 

“Oh, me too, me too!” Ellie said, bouncing on the tips of her toes. 

“Ok, lemme just get a free hand,” Miles said. Peter felt them tilt and shift as Miles transferred all of their weight to one arm. Miles was so short that Wade’s feet couldn’t be more than a six or seven inches off the ground, but the fact remained that he was balancing them all one handed. He reached the other hand out to Ellie and she squealed and jumped at him. Miles used his free hand to help catapult her up so she could hang on to Wade’s shoulder.

Then, slowly, Miles turned to face his parents.

“Ta-da?” He said softly. Jeffery and Rio said nothing. Their eyes bulged. Their mouths hung open. If someone had dropped a pin, the sound would have all but echoed in the living room. 

“He can do other things too.” That was Gwen. Her voice was sharp. If Peter didn’t know better, he might have mistaken the tone for jealousy, but that wasn’t quite right. “He can zap people. And he turned invisible a few times.”

“Super powers.” Aaron said finally, because really what else was there to say. 

Miles gently set them all down and Peter returned to his seat. Miles stood in front of his parents, looking at the ground and scuffing a foot against the carpet as he waited for them to say something. Anything. 

“Dios mio…” Rio finally breathed.

“I’m sorry,” Miles said, hunching up his shoulders. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t want them to do it, I didn’t mean to get like this, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Miles,” Rio reached for him, pulling him onto her lap and burying her head against his shoulder just as her face began to crumple. Miles clung to her, too stressed to even care that his mother was cradling him like he was still a baby. “Miles, you are our son. You are our baby. We  _ love _ you. Right, Jeffery?”

Jeffery looked much more disturbed by the demonstration of Miles’ newfound powers, but he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around both of them as much as he could. 

“Powers or not. We’re your family, Miles. We love you. Nothing can change that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As this starts getting close to wrapping up, I'm thinking about the next installment, which will be the prequel (about Peter and Wade as teenagers at May's house). It's definitely a 'getting together' story, and I'm hoping to have it out this summer.
> 
> My question for Y'ALL is - how smutty do you guys want?? Right now it's in a stage where it's just as easy for things to tastefully fade to black as it is for things to get a little steamier. Does anyone have a preference?


	11. Shelter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> being a pre-teen is hard (especially when you've got PTSD and super-powers)

Peter knew he probably wasn’t supposed to hear the conversation.

He wasn’t sure what time it was - still night, but beyond that he was clueless. Ellie snored softly on the couch, an arm and one leg flung out over the side. Wade had stirred when Riley began to fuss, but Peter had waved him back to sleep. He wanted Wade alert the next day, since Peter certainly wouldn’t be. It was hard to sleep in a stranger’s house, even such kind ones as Rio and Jeffery.

Peter managed to scoop Riley up before he started crying in earnest and thankfully the baby nursed with little complaint. The last thing Peter wanted was to repay their hosts with a sleepless night.

“Gwen?” The voice was quiet, but the night was so silent that Peter could still hear him even from the other room: Miles. Gwen, sleeping on Miles’ floor, gave a little grunt.

“Are you mad at me?” Miles asked. 

“No.” Unfortunately, the word was accompanied by a deeply annoyed tone.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Peter didn’t really blame Miles for not believing her. She  _ sounded _ upset.

“Why are you mad at me?” Miles asked again. 

“I’m not mad at you, ok!” Gwen snapped, just barely keeping her voice low enough to be considered quiet.

“Are you mad that I showed them our superpowers? Because they don’t mind. They said it was ok.”

Gwen gave a disgusted sort of sound in the back of her throat. “Of course, they  _ said  _ it was ok. They have to say that, you’re their kid.”

She said it so angrily that it almost sounded like an accusation. Miles was quiet for a moment as he thought about this. When he spoke, he just sounded sad.

“Are you mad about Mami and Dad?” He asked quietly.

“Why would I be mad about that?” Gwen spat the words so fiercely that Peter realized it must be true. “Go crawling back to your mommy and daddy, I don’t care.”

Peter’s heart clenched as he realized why Gwen had been so uncharacteristically quiet all day. He wanted to go to her and hold her and tell her it would be alright (and maybe not to take it out on Miles), but he was supposed to be asleep, not eavesdropping.

“I don’t get why you’re so mad about it,” Miles said, clearly wounded. 

“I’m not mad! I told you, I don’t care!”

“It’s ok, Gwen, Peter and Wade can take you home next, and then you can see your family and it will all be ok,” Miles told her earnestly.

“Ugh, you’re so stupid, Miles! I don’t  _ have _ a family!” Gwen seethed.

To Peter’s surprise, rather than crumbled under Gwen’s venomous words, Miles seemed to rise.

“Then you can be part of our family!” He told her and Peter could tell he believed it, that he really did want it. 

“No, I can’t.” And now Gwen just sounded defeated. He heard a rustle of cloth. “Go to sleep, Miles.”

“Gwen-“

“Go to sleep.”

Miles tried a few more times to engage Gwen, but after that she refused to speak. Eventually, he gave up.

In the dark and the quiet, Peter’s heart ached for these kids. They were so young. They hadn’t even presented yet and they already had to deal with questions of survival and family. It wasn’t fair. He wished he could shield them both somehow from everything they’d gone through, from all the ways they’d been forced to grow up too fast.

—

In the morning, Peter was still thinking about it. It just wasn’t fair. Somehow, despite how many families he’d lost, Peter always seemed to manage to find a new one. First it had been his own parents, then Ben and May. Even when it had just been him and Wade, that had felt like a little family. And after that there had been Tony, and then Natasha and her little pack… Peter spared a thought to hope they were ok.

He missed having Tony around, even if it was partially the selfish enjoyment of having someone to lean on. He and Wade leaned on each other, of course, but that was different; they were partners. Tony had sort of taken care of him in a way that Peter didn’t have to reciprocate… more like a dad than a partner.

Peter pointedly turned his thoughts away from this. There was still too much at stake for him to get depressed over what  _ might _ have happened to their old friends. There was still Gwen and Ellie who needed them, who needed homes. 

Peter, Wade, Riley, and Rio all sat at the kitchen table while Jeffery worked on breakfast. Peter thought he’d heard Gwen get up earlier, but he hadn’t seen her yet today. He wondered if he ought to say something to Rio about it, about everything he’d overheard, but decided against it. What could she even do about it if Peter did? 

Rio and Jeffery’s attitude toward him and Wade seemed to have softened overnight. There was still tension between the Alpha parties, but now Rio was eager to coo over the baby in a way she hadn’t allowed herself before.

“What’s his name again?” She asked, pulling her chair close to Peter’s to get a better look at him.

“Riley,” Peter told her and suddenly he was very glad Wade sat so close on the other side of him. Peter trusted Rio logically, but she was the first stranger to show an interest in his cub since they’d escaped the facility. It made his heart pound, no matter how firmly he told himself everything was fine.

It must have showed in his scent, because Rio leaned away considerately.

“How old is he?” She asked easily, tactfully not mentioning the fear she could no doubt smell on him.

“Five… maybe five and a half months,” Peter said slowly, frowning at not having the answer readily available. “Sorry, we were underground for… a while. I’m not sure when…”

Peter bit down on his own tongue. He didn’t know how Miles had been able to tell his parents as much as he did. He could barely speak of what had happened without panicking. Rio’s face morphed as she realized the implication.

“He was down there with you,” she said. For a moment Peter felt his own panic flare. He could smell the outrage in her scent. Peter shook himself. Outrage  _ for _ him, not  _ at  _ him.

“Not with  _ me _ ,” Peter said, but that was all he managed before his throat seemed to lock down on the words. Anything else would be too much and Peter knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it together if that happened. 

Rio’s face darkened, her scent spiking so sharply that she actually stood up and excused herself. Wade draped an arm wordlessly around Peter’s shoulder while he tried to remember how to breathe.

Jeffery calmly put a mug of coffee in front of him and Peter gingerly handed Riley off to Wade. The baby began to fuss and Wade squeezed Peter’s shoulder before taking Riley in the next room for a change. Peter could hear Wade humming to the pup quietly.

He slowly drank the coffee, sitting in silence with Jeffery. Strangely, Peter didn’t mind the quiet and the Alpha didn’t seem so intimidating now that Peter wasn’t holding Riley. In fact, he just looked tired. Finally, when the coffee was almost gone, Jeffery spoke.

“Has he got any powers?”

“Sort of,” Peter said. This was easier to talk about since it hadn’t happened in the labs. “We’re pretty sure he got Wade’s healing factor at least a little, but he’s so little… I’m not sure if he’ll get anything else.”

“Uncharted territory,” Jeffery nodded and sighed. It occurred to Peter that Jeffery might have been asking for advice. After all, he too had a child with brand new powers they didn’t understand. They must be a pretty small club, Peter thought, and suddenly wished he’d been able to say something more encouraging.

Then Rio returned with a sheaf of papers and an air of determination. It was a calendar, she explained. Handwritten and kept in the family, expanded upon each year so they could keep track of things. Together, they were able to piece together that Riley was exactly five months, two weeks, and two days old. Something about having the knowledge made Peter feel better about the situation.

Miles wandered in, trailing a sleepy Ellie behind him. 

“That’s right. I missed my birthday,” Miles said drowsily when he recognized the calendar. “I’m eleven now.”

“Show me my birthday!” Ellie demanded, climbing up on a chair so she could see the pages too. This caused a bit of a fuss since Ellie didn’t actually know her birthday and was annoyed that no one else seemed to know either.

By the time Wade returned with a much calmer Riley, Jeffery had begun dishing out food. Rio put the calendar away to keep it clean as they all crowded around the table.

“Can you set a little aside for Gwen?” Peter asked. She still had yet to appear. At Peter’s words, Miles’ face fell. Apparently they hadn’t made up after Peter had gone back to sleep. 

It suddenly occurred to Peter that Gwen might have run away. If she was upset enough, there was nothing stopping her. And Peter suspected that she had survived alone before. When Peter hurriedly whispered as much to Wade, Jeffery managed to hear and shake his head. There was a little balcony off he and Rio’s room. Gwen had planted herself there early this morning and was still there as far as he knew.

—-

“Peter,” Rio said cautiously after breakfast, “I don’t know if you’re comfortable with it, but I have some training as a nurse - could I take a look at Riley?”

For a moment, Peter’s anxiety about keeping Riley close warred with his anxiety over Riley’s health. His health won out in an instant.

“You don’t mind?” He asked cautiously. Rio grinned and shook her head.

“Are you kidding? I haven’t gotten to hold a baby since Miles was this old!” She told him. 

She quickly set up in the living room, and Peter followed. When she was ready, Peter slowly handed over the baby. Almost immediately, Riley began to scream.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said, wincing, “He’s not good with strangers. He does this every time I let go of him.”

Peter didn’t say that, if he were able to do so, he might also cry every time he had to let go. Instead he shushed Riley and stroked the baby’s head while Rio bounced him gently.

“It’s good that he knows you though,” Rio told him. “That he can recognize your face and obviously has an attachment.”

Slowly, once assured that Peter wasn’t actually going anywhere, Riley settled. He still scrunched up his little face and whined every time he was moved but no longer cried. 

“Has he tried any solid food yet?” Rio asked. Peter shook his head. It hadn’t occurred to him and Riley hadn’t seemed interested. “That’s fine.”

Rio repositioned him in her arms so he was looking up at her and slowly waved her finger in front of Riley’s face, watching as the baby tracked the motion with his eyes.

“How long can he sit up on his own for?” She asked. 

“Um. He can’t. I mean, I’ve never seen him do it,” Peter admitted. Rio frowned a little.

“Has he rolled over yet?”

Again Peter shook his head. Rio looked at the baby more carefully. She cooed and seemed satisfied when he looked up at the noise. She dangled a strand of her long curly hair in front of the baby’s face and smiled when he reached for it and clutched it in his chubby little hands. She even seemed pleased when he promptly shoved the hair in his mouth and began to drool.

“Does he suck his thumb?”

“No, but sometimes he tries to fit his fist in his mouth.” Peter said, trying to ignore the creeping anxiety. “Rio…”

“Mmm?”

“He stopped talking.” Peter finally burst out. He snapped his mouth closed and pressed his fists against his leg. In some ways he felt embarrassed. What if this was his fault? What if he’d cause Riley to go silent because he was a bad dad or something? But if Rio had answers, Peter needed them regardless. “He- he used to babble, just, constantly but he hasn’t at  _ all _ since we got out. And he cries all the time. He was sleeping through the night sometimes before but now he doesn’t. I just…”

Peter blinked hard. He felt helpless, but worse than that, he felt incompetent. He couldn’t even figure out what was wrong with his own kid or if he’d messed him up for life. He knew Wade was worried too, but he didn’t have any more answers than Peter did.

Rio slowly stopped bouncing Riley as she considered all this.

“It makes sense,” she said finally, sighing. Riley shoved the lock of hair further into his mouth and gave a muted little yell to protest the fact that she’d stopped bouncing him. Rio gave a little smile and started up again.

“Trauma can do that,” she told Peter a little sadly. “Kids regress, or just don’t progress… but I wouldn’t say there’s anything  _ wrong _ with him.”

“He’s traumatized?” Peter said, sounding utterly distraught even to his own ears. He’d had a small hope that Riley was so little, maybe he wouldn’t remember it. Maybe it wouldn’t scar him.

“He’s very smart, Peter,” Rio told him. “He responds to sounds, he can follow things with his eyes, he even knows your face and knows to be upset when you’re gone.”

“He might be a late walker since he still isn’t interested in crawling,” she continued, “But the ability is there. He can already grab things and find his mouth and lift his head. He’ll do the rest when he’s ready.”

_ What if he’s never ready _ , Peter wanted to ask, but he knew the answer in his own head already. It didn’t matter if Riley was never ready. He was their baby, their pup. They loved him. That wouldn’t change even if he never spoke again.

—

“Has anyone seen Gwen?” Wade asked a little after noon. He had Ellie on his shoulders, though she had draped herself comically over his head, apparently exhausted from the morning. Miles had been showing Ellie (and by extension, Wade) all his favorite places. It had only been inside the building, Miles’ parents still not ready to let him go too far, but Ellie managed to turn it into an adventure anyway.

After Riley’s check-up, Peter’s questions came flooding out. He and Wade had been on their own for so long, and even when they’d been at Natasha’s, none of those adults had ever had children before. The opportunity to talk to someone who was both parent and nurse was too valuable to pass up. After hours of in depth discussion about every worry Peter had ever had about Riley, including practically every sneeze, burp, and spit-up, Peter was surprised to find he felt better. Not great. He probably wouldn’t feel great for a long time, but more confident. 

The confidence took a slight bruising when Wade asked the question; in his panic over Riley, Peter had temporarily forgotten about Gwen.

“Oh, she’s with my dad,” Miles said. He looked much better than he had that morning. There was still an undercurrent of anxiety, but not quite the same air of hopelessness.

“What are they doing?” Peter asked. Somehow the two seemed like an odd couple in Peter’s mind. He couldn’t think of anything they had in common that could keep them entertained all morning. Except maybe Miles, but he’d been with Ellie.

“I think he’s showing her his radio and his roster and the route,” Rio said.  _ She _ didn’t seem at all surprised. Wade nodded, obviously understanding something about Jeffery that Peter didn’t, but he didn’t want to ask and bring attention to his own ignorance. Luckily, Ellie saved him.

“What’s a roster?” She asked, wiggling to let Wade know she was ready to get down. He set her on her feet and she immediately climbed up on the couch next to Peter so she could see Riley again.

“It’s a list of people,” Rio told her, “This is a list of people who patrol with Jeffery.”

Ellie had stopped listening, instantly distracted by the baby, but Peter tilted his head curiously.

“Patrol?”

“My dad’s a ranger!” Miles proclaimed proudly. “He protects the city from bad guys.”

“He organizes the local watch,” Rio explained. “Makes sure someone is always keeping an eye out, in case any of the big gangs get too close.” 

That must be how they could survive without a tax lord. Peter wasn’t sure exactly where they were, but he guessed they were on the edge of Fisk territory. Of course, if Fisk put his mind to it, he could probably swallow up the little town in an instant, but then  _ he’d  _ have to deal with the turf wars of smaller, pettier mobs. It was probably easier to leave the little city alone and let it act as a buffer. Any land that bordered Fisk’s territory would get protection from the desert without Fisk having to lift a finger.

But that was on an entirely different scale. More immediately, Peter realized, it meant that Jeffery must carry some authority with the locals. It also meant that Miles’ abduction had been more than just a tragedy, but a personal failure to Jeffery for failing to protect Miles (and maybe other children in the city) from predators.

All this, Peter mulled over while Wade nodded.

“I bet Gwen would love that stuff,” he said. “She’s good with strategy and that sort of thing.”

_ And _ she had a passion for protecting people, which fit in nicely too. Perhaps Gwen and Jeffery did have enough talk about to keep them occupied.

As if on cue, Jeffery walked out of his room with Gwen close behind him. Peter watched Miles and Gwen exchange loaded glances before the two looked away. Ignoring the tension, Jeffery put a hand on Gwen’s shoulder and turned to Rio with a smile.

“Smart as a whip, this one,” he said fondly. “Figured practically everything out just from looking at the timetable, barely needed to tell her anything.”

“Did he ask you about blind spots?” Rio asked with equal parts fondness and exasperation. “He’s been obsessed with blind spots recently.”

Gwen nodded and Peter noticed she looked dangerously close to  _ smiling _ . 

Gwen joined them for lunch this time, although she and Miles seemed to be pointedly avoiding one another. No one mentioned it and there were enough of them around the table that they distracted from the fact that the pair barely spoke at all.

After lunch, Ellie collapsed on the couch for a nap and Peter was eager to put Riley down for one as well. Wade sidled up to Peter as soon as the two younger children were asleep and Peter found himself leaning into Wade’s hold, even though they lacked much privacy. They did not escalate anything from there, of course, but it was nice to be somewhere… safe. 

The house wasn’t impenetrable, of course, but when Peter felt sleepiness tugging at him, berating him for the odd hours he’d kept the night before, he felt secure enough to give in to the feeling. He could nap too now without worrying about keeping a watch schedule. There were walls around them and locked doors and more sets of adult eyes than they’d had in a long time. Being able to settle down in Wade's arms just because he could felt like an immense luxury.

Peter dozed off to the feeling of Wade’s fingers gently carding through his hair and Ellie’s soft snoring. 

He woke a little while later when the door to Rio and Jeffery’s room closed with a sharp ‘click’. Wade hadn’t fallen asleep and he ran a hand over Peter’s back when he stirred. Instantly, Peter relaxed bonelessly. That’s right. They didn’t have to move yet. He could stay like this with Wade a little longer. Peter buried his face in Wade’s neck, letting that soothing Alpha scent surround him. 

“There you go, all clean,” He heard Rio saying in the other room. “That’s much better, isn’t it?”

To Peter’s surprise, he recognized Gwen’s hum of agreement answering her. 

“Can I brush out your hair?” Rio asked. Gwen must have agreed because there was some shuffling and then Rio saying, “Just sit here, there you are.”

Peter wondered distantly why Rio was showing Gwen this sort of attention. Maybe Miles had told her about how upset Gwen had been and they pitied her for not having a family. Or maybe Rio was just excited to have a girl to dote on, although Gwen and Miles were both still young enough that that might change. Whatever the reason, Peter found it soothing to listen to Rio humming quietly while she brushed Gwen’s hair. 

He had nearly dozed off again when Rio sighed and stopped humming. 

“You have such beautiful hair, Gwen,” she said. 

“It’s too easy to see.” Gwen grumbled a moment later. “It makes it too hard to hide.”

“You shouldn’t have to hide it,” Rio said and Peter could easily imagine her combing her fingers through Gwen’s pale hair, perhaps braiding it. Gwen was quiet for a long moment before she spoke again. 

“They wouldn’t shut up about it.” She said under her breath, though her anger was apparent. “The people who took Miles and us. They just kept talking about how much it would sell for. I hate it.”

“Oh, Gwen…” Peter felt sure this time that the rustling came from Rio’s attempt to embrace the girl. Peter cringed, thinking that Gwen would push her away for sure, but if she did, Peter couldn’t hear it. 

“It’s ok,” Rio told her. “They’re never gonna get you ever again.”

“I know,” Gwen said, but Peter could hear that the conviction in her voice meant something entirely different from what Rio had been trying to offer. Poachers were never going to get Gwen again because she’d been through too much now. She would kill them if they tried. Peter had no doubt about that.

Rio seemed to hear it too because she sighed and the bed creaked as she stood up. 

“Come on, let’s get you something clean to wear. I’m sure some of Mile’s stuff will fit you… or we can look in my closet if you want something a little more feminine. What would you prefer?”

Gwen hesitated before she answered. “Is your closet ok?”

“Of course,” Rio said and Peter could practically hear the smile in her voice. Truthfully, Gwen’s answer surprised Peter a little. Gwen had looked completely androgenous when they’d met her and she’d never voiced much of an opinion about her gender presentation before. In fact, Peter had assumed she didn’t care for traditionally feminine trappings because of how she’d seemed to look down at moments when Ellie cooed over something shiny or tried to put something in her hair because she thought it was pretty. Peter wondered what had changed now. Was she trying to endear herself to Rio by looking more feminine? Or was that how she would normally have liked to dress if she hadn’t been fighting for her life? 

Peter didn’t catch much of an answer because at that moment, Riley woke up screaming and Peter had to divert his attention to feeding him. Ellie was woken by the crying as well. Apparently, it wasn’t a good way to wake up because she was immediately cranky, rejecting Wade’s offer of food or a song or a game. She wanted  _ Miles _ , but Miles was off somewhere with his dad and neither of them knew when he’d be back. 

Just when it seemed that Ellie was also on the verge of a temper tantrum, Rio opened the door to her room and stepped out with Gwen. Peter looked up, interested to see the results of Rio’s handiwork. 

He was again surprised to find that it was not the highly performative version of femininity that he’d been expecting. Gwen wore a pair of Rio’s pants cuffed up to just under her knees. The shirt was plain but had a ruffle around the edges of the hem and sleeves. Rio had finished the whole thing off with a hairclip. Peter couldn’t tell what it really looked like from his seat with Riley, but it was definitely sparkly. Gwen stared at them all with her chin lifted, as if daring them to say anything. 

Ellie was the only one who dared. Apparently sparkly hair clips were enough to distract her from Miles’ absence, at least temporarily. 

“Oooh, Gwen, you look so pretty!” She squealed, abandoning Wade and racing over for a closer look. She tugged at Gwen’s pant-leg to get her to kneel. “Can I see? Can I see?”

Gwen wrinkled up her face in annoyance, but knelt so that Ellie could run her fingers over the sparkly barrette. It did look quite striking, now that Gwen’s hair was washed and it had returned to its natural platinum color. 

“Pretty…” Ellie said longingly, but didn’t try to take the clip.

“Would you like me to do your hair, Ellie?” Rio asked and the girl whipped toward her with a blinding grin. 

“Yes! Please please please!” Ellie was practically vibrating with excitement. Peter and Wade had tried their best to keep the kids clean, but since keeping them alive was a higher priority, hygiene had often fallen by the wayside while they traveled. They’d certainly never tried anything purely for aesthetics. Anyway, neither Peter nor Wade had any experience styling hair and even if they had, they probably would have practiced mostly on each other and their hair was a completely different texture from Ellie’s. Well, Peter’s was, since Wade was completely hairless now. 

“Can I watch?” Wade asked cautiously. Rio and Ellie both agreed enthusiastically and the three disappeared back into Rio’s room. That was good, Peter thought, this way Wade could learn how to do Ellie’s hair even after they left. 

Then Peter remembered. Ellie was next on their drop-off list. They probably wouldn’t have her for very much longer. Peter tried to remind himself that this was a  _ good _ thing and hoped that Wade remembered it too. Peter knew his mate well enough to tell that he loved Ellie. Saying goodbye wouldn’t be easy. 


	12. Ellie: Part 1

The question of Gwen had Peter totally preoccupied in the few days they spent with Rio and Jeffery. When they had first picked Gwen up, the problem of where to bring her had felt very distant. They had needed to survive the desert and get Miles and Ellie home first. But now, with Miles returned, her situation was far more pressing.

When Peter confided as much in Rio, she grinned at him and quietly disclosed her and Jeffery’s solution.

—

They stayed as long as they dared, reluctant to leave the relative safety and comfort of the Morales-Davis home, but Peter and Wade both knew that they would become a burden if they stayed much longer. Finding food for three people was one thing - finding food for  _ eight _ (even if some of those people were very small and didn’t eat much) was entirely different.

Jeffery and Rio were incredibly generous and didn’t ask them to leave, but Peter didn’t want to make life any more difficult for them. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to turn down one last act of generosity when the pair presented them with what rations they could spare. 

Peter blinked hard and thanked them as best he could. Practically everything seemed to make him cry these days, but he was determined not to let these kind people see it if he could help it.

The goodbyes were slow as Peter, Wade, and Ellie bid farewell to each of the Morales’ in turn. Ellie in particular attached herself to Miles, hugging his knees fiercely.

“Wait for me, Miles!” She demanded. “I’m gonna grow up and come back and then I’m gonna make you my mate!”

She was so steadfastly determined in her declaration that it was all the adults could do to stifle their laughter. Miles’ eyes were round with surprise as he awkwardly patted the top of her head and did his best to assure her that she could come back anytime she wanted without promising her his hand.

As expected, Gwen stayed silent and stony faced throughout the proceedings. The tentative tendrils of confidence that she’d been building during their stay collapsed the instant Peter and Wade announced that they were leaving. The walls she’d built around herself slammed up and Peter didn’t try to force her to lower them.

They lowered on their own when Peter and Wade turned to her and began their goodbyes to  _ her _ .

Peter instantly felt guilty as the panic flooded over her face. Her already pale face seemed to drain of color and she shook.

“What are you doing?” She demanded. Even her voice shook. He could see her trying to draw her anger around her to cover for her fear, but the hold was tenuous at best. “No! You  _ promised! _ You said there’d be time- you said you wouldn’t leave me behind!”

“Oh, Gwen.” Peter handed Riley to Wade before the baby could start fussing at the noise and knelt in front of her. She’d given the sparkly hair clip back to Rio in a moment of frustration and now her white blonde hair fell into her eyes. Peter tucked it gently behind her ears. “It’s ok. It’s ok. I’m sorry, I thought you knew-“

“Knew that you were going to abandon me?” Gwen snapped, pulling away sharply. She looked like she might want to hit him.

“No,” Peter started to say, but she had stopped listening to him. He could see her jaw working as she fought to keep from tearing up with limited success. She was so young. Not even twelve. Peter glanced behind him to the other adults for help.

Rio took Jeffery’s hand and stepped forward purposefully.

“Gwen,” Rio said softly.

“ _ What!” _

“We thought,” Jeffery said carefully, “If you wanted to, you could stay with us. We would love it if you stayed with us.”

Peter didn’t know what reaction he was expecting: joy, maybe, or even rejection. He hadn’t expected the absolute outrage that seemed to seize Gwen at the suggestion.

_ “Why?”  _ Gwen was shouting now. “You don’t have any reason to be nice to me! I’m just some kid! I’ve got freaky powers! I could be dangerous! I’m just gonna be another mouth to feed! I don’t have anything to offer you so why-?”

Gwen’s voice cracked on the last question and she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep the sound from escaping. She screwed her eyes shut as though trying to block them all out.

Peter moved out of the way quickly so Rio could wrap her arms around Gwen protectively. She didn’t say a word, just held her and stroked her hair until Gwen finally broke and sobbed into Rio’s shoulder. It was a wretched sound. Gwen had always been so composed and the cries coming from her shaking back were so  _ broken,  _ so unapologetically ugly that it was hard to watch.

Rio kept her close, shielding her from their gaze with her arms around Gwen’s shoulders as she rocked them back and forth as Gwen cried. 

“Oh, my sweet girl...it’s ok. It’s ok.” Rio hummed, barely more than a whisper. “I know, no one’s held you in too long, have they? You’ve had to be so strong for so long, but it’s ok. We know how strong you are. We know and we’re gonna help you so you don’t have to take the weight of the whole world all the time.”

“You’re only saying that ‘cause Miles told you to,” Gwen sniffled, but the fight had gone out of her and she slumped against Rio.

“Miles  _ did _ tell us that he wants you to stay,” Rio admitted, “But we had decided this before he said anything.”

_ “ _ Are you sure?” Gwen whispered finally after she’d turned the information over in her head for a minute.

“We’re sure.”

It took a long time for Gwen to cry herself out. When _was_ the last time someone had held her? When was the last time she hadn’t been responsible for her own survival? Had she ever really gotten to be a kid? Peter felt a little guilty for the responsibilities he’d placed on her as they traveled. He still couldn’t think of another way he could have acted, but he had certainly treated her like she was older than she was and relied on her more than the other children. 

Finally, when Gwen pulled away and wiped her nose on her arm, Jeffery offered her the hair clip again.

For a moment, Gwen just stared at it, like she was unable to believe it was really being offered. But then Jeffery carefully tucked her hair back behind her head and clipped the barrette in place and when he offered a hug, Gwen leaned into it.

“I told you,” Miles said, trying to hide his grin. “You can share my family.”

Gwen’s reply was muffled in Jeffery’s shirt, but whatever she said made Miles laugh.

By the time Gwen had calmed down and everyone else’s emotions had settled, they were forced to say all their goodbyes over again. Gwen was still quiet as she let them hug her goodbye, but she had slipped her hand tentatively into Jeffery’s and hadn’t let go. Peter caught the terrified glances that she shot Rio and Jeffery throughout the proceedings, as though she expected them to snatch it all away. It made his heart ache to see how deeply her trust issues ran, but as he, Ellie, and Wade finally left, Peter felt hopeful too. 

Perhaps not today, or tomorrow, or months from now - but someday, Gwen was going to believe that her new family loved her. Peter felt sure of it.

\--

Neither Miles nor Gwen had been particularly boisterous, but it felt uncannily quiet to be traveling without them them. Wade and Ellie kept up a cheerful stream of conversation most of the time, chattering about anything and everything that crossed the girl’s mind, and song-time had been re-instituted at Ellie’s request, but it wasn’t the same. 

It helped to know that the older kids were safe and at least had a fighting chance at happiness, but Peter wasn’t really surprised when Ellie rolled over one night to pout in he and Wade’s direction.

“I miss them.” She said plainly. 

“I know, baby girl,” Wade sighed, tugging her sleep roll closer to them so that she was in arms’ reach. “But they’re where they belong, you know? Birds belong in the sky and plants belong in the ground and kids belong with their families.”

“Where do grown-ups belong?” Ellie inched closer. Wade was laying on his back, Peter curled against one shoulder, and Riley sleeping on his chest. When Ellie curled up with her head on Wade’s free shoulder, Peter gently reached across to stroke her arm.

“Depends on the grown-up,” Wade said. 

“What about you?”

“That’s easy. I belong with Peter and Riley.” Wade told her easily, “And they belong with me.”

Peter hummed his agreement, too drowsy to engage much more in the conversation. Ellie fell quiet for a moment, just long enough that Peter thought she might have fallen asleep. 

“Me too,” she said softly. Peter felt Wade’s sharp intake of breath and closed his eyes against the sharp stab of emotion in his chest. 

“Try to rest now, Ellie-bellie,” Wade said. Ellie might not have, but Peter could hear the sorrow in Wade’s voice. Peter might not have had the same instant connection that Wade and Ellie shared, but he… cared about her. 

Peter gave a little sigh, trying to settle himself and finding only a twisting guilt in his stomach. He could smell Wade’s distress in his scent and clung to him just a little tighter, offering what meager support he could. Wade wasn’t like him. Peter had been fighting not to love Ellie ever since they’d found her, all too aware that they would have to let her go soon, but Wade could never manage such a thing. Wade loved so fiercely and so completely, that asking him not to grow attached to Ellie would be like asking him not to breathe. 

And truthfully, Peter had failed too. Despite his best efforts, he did love Ellie, even if they didn’t have the same bond as she and Wade did. He wasn’t ready to admit it, even to himself, but he would have gladly kept Ellie if it was the right thing to do. 

He just couldn’t think of a reason to justify separating another family like that, not after he’d felt first-hand just how painful that separation could be. 

\---

Despite the initial strangeness, it was actually easy to fall into a rhythm when it was just the four of them. Ellie and Riley’s schedules were much more similar to each other than they’d been to the older children’s. Ellie and Riley also ate less than two kids on the cusp of their initial growth spurts, so their supplies lasted longer than they anticipated. 

Most of the time Peter and Wade traded off carrying Ellie and Riley and their progress was slow but steady, though occasionally Ellie walked on her own. She was still energetic despite all the hardships they’d been through and it was easy to let her run off the excess energy after she’d listened to Peter’s lectures about how to watch for scorpions and rattlesnakes. On her short little legs, he didn’t worry about her running too far ahead at least. 

She still asked to hold Riley nearly every time they stopped to rest, still talked to him and sang to him, though the baby still hadn’t made any move to suggest he would try to talk back. Peter was grateful for her help, really. Rio had said it would be good for them to keep talking to Riley even if he didn’t babble back, but Peter’s own anxieties about Riley’s well-being sometimes threatened to choke him when he tried. He couldn’t think of what to say without devolving into apologies over and over for letting anything bad happen to Riley, and Peter knew that that wouldn’t be beneficial for him or the baby. Ellie’s chatter alleviated much of that guilt.

They had nearly a week of this odd peacefulness before any trouble became apparent. It began with Ellie electing to stay on Wade’s shoulders more and more often, though she still offered as much direction as she could, and evolved into Ellie growing quieter and quieter as the days progressed. 

Slowly, the directions became less and less coherent and Ellie demanded that they change directions more and more frequently.

“Actually, it’s, um, that way. Way way way that way.” Ellie pointed firmly back the way they had come. 

Wade knelt in front of her, taking Ellie’s hands in each of his gloved ones. The little girl fidgeted, staring down at her feet and refusing to meet Wade’s eyes. 

“Is that true, Ellie?” He asked patiently. 

“Yes!” She cried with a little stomp of her foot. When Wade continued to watch her without comment, Ellie wilted. “No…”

“Why did you say that?” Wade asked gently. “Don’t you want to see your grandma again?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ellie said, scuffing a foot in the dirt. “But you’re gonna make me go away like Miles and Gwen!”

“We didn’t ‘make’ them go away, Ellie, they wanted to stay. They belonged with their family.”

“Me too!” Ellie insisted, looking up at Wade beseechingly. “I belong with you and Peter and Baby Riley! You guys are my family now.”

Wade was silent. Peter closed his eyes against the unexpected wave of hurt. He should have seen this coming. He  _ wanted _ to keep her. Peter wanted that version of their family that Ellie had laid out so plainly. It hurt more than he could have imagined to know it was impossible. 

“Your grandma is probably really worried about you,” Wade said finally, his voice thick. “It’s not fair for us to keep her waiting when we know you’re ok.”

Ellie slumped. She had dealt with so much in her short life, but she was still so little. Even if she didn’t understand exactly what Wade was saying, she heard the ‘no’ in his voice. She stayed quiet and close to Wade all the rest of the afternoon and curled up between them when they settled down for the night. 

“Are you sure we can’t, Pete?” Wade whispered when he was sure Ellie was asleep. “It’s been so long… her grandma probably thinks she’s dead, she wouldn’t even notice if we kept her.”

It was a testament to Wade’s misery that he was suggesting it at all and a testament to Peter’s that he was seriously considering it. 

“You know we can’t,” Peter said finally, when he was sure his voice wouldn’t crack on the words. “I mean, obviously, if her grandma is-- gone, or if she doesn’t want to take care of her, then of course, but otherwise… If it were May, I’d want someone to let her know what happened to me.”

\---

A small part of Peter hoped that they’d never find Ellie’s hometown. It was the only way he could think of where they could stay together without intentionally hurting someone else. When they’d been searching for Miles’ home, it had felt as though they’d never find it.

Of course, now that Peter wanted to prolong the journey, they found Ellie’s home easily. 

It took only a handful of days after Peter and Wade’s late night conversation to find themselves on the front step of a slightly decrepit but clearly lived-in home.

The door wasn’t locked. It made Peter uneasy to think of how simple it would be for anyone to walk in, but Ellie didn’t seem surprised to find it that way. She pushed the door open without a second thought, as though expecting it to be open.

“Gramma!” She called into the apartment. “I’m home!”

There was no immediate reply, but Ellie didn’t seem perturbed by this. With some wriggling, she slipped off her shoes and walked casually into the house.

“Wait,” Wade hissed, taking her arm before she could take more than a few steps. “Someone might be in here.”

“Yeah, Esperanza comes by a lot,” Ellie said.

“Who is Esperanza?”

“She’s the lady who lives next door.”

“Please let me go first, Ellie,” Wade insisted. Ellie grumbled about it, but promised to stay with Peter and Riley by the door while Wade investigated. Peter offered her his free hand and Ellie took it, still pouting. 

Truthfully, Peter was glad that Wade was looking ahead for them. He didn’t really think they’d find squatters or an ambush or anything, but the apartment stank. The scent of rotting wood and unwashed bodies was noticeable, even if it wasn’t gagging. It didn’t  _ smell _ like anyone had been taking care of the house... like anyone was living there. If anything had happened to Ellie’s grandmother, Peter hoped Wade would spare her the sight of having to see it. 

Peter listened to the sounds of Wade moving around the house, going from room to room. The house hadn’t seemed very large, but several minutes later Wade still hadn’t returned and Ellie began to fidget. Peter held the girl’s hand a little tighter, hoping to keep her anchored to his side as she grew impatient. 

Wade reappeared shaking his head. He pulled off his mask to reveal an uncertain frown. 

“No one’s here.”

Peter’s stomach flipped. 

“Maybe she went out?” Peter offered, though Wade’s frown told him it was unlikely. 

“Gramma doesn’t go out,” Ellie informed him. “She can’t walk good. Esperanza does the errands for her.”

“Maybe Esperanza took her over to her house for company,” Peter suggested. Ellie looked unconvinced but pointed them to Esperanza’s house anyway.

Peter wished he had a moment to speak to Wade alone. He wanted Wade’s honest assessment of the situation, of what he’d found or not found in Ellie’s house, but he didn’t dare ask while Ellie was in earshot. If it was something truly horrible, Peter didn't want Ellie finding out through eavesdropping. 

Again, Wade had them wait by the door while he searched the house, and again he came back shaking his head. 

“No one’s home,” he told them.

By now Ellie’s patience was wearing thin. She wasn’t particularly good at waiting and didn’t like being tied to Peter’s metaphorical apron strings when there were other things to do. Besides that, they’d been walking all morning and had yet to stop for lunch.

“Where’d she go?” Ellie asked Wade, her voice already heading toward a whine.

“I don’t know,” Wade admitted, which only made Ellie stomp her foot in frustration.

“Why not?” She demanded, which of course they had no answer to. Despite all her protests about not wanting to go home, Ellie now screwed up her face in a way that told Peter tears were imminent. “I want Esperanza! I wanna see Gramma! Where are they?”

“Why don’t we try waiting to see if they come back?” Peter tried to suggest but Ellie shook her head fiercely, chest already heaving as her melt down began in earnest. 

“No! I wan’ them now!” 

Wade knelt down, scooping the girl into his arms as Ellie wailed. She flailed her arms and screamed into Wade’s shoulder. The noise woke Riley and soon he and Wade had two howling children on their hands. Exhaustion felt like a wave crashing over Peter. How could they keep doing this? How had they ever thought they were suitable guardians for children?

For a moment, Peter almost thought he might join the kids in their ceaseless sobbing. They had tried so hard and for so long and the kids were still miserable. It felt as though this was how it would always be: lost, confused, and surrounded by temper tantrums. 

It was hard to gauge Wade’s expression behind his mask, but the set of his shoulders told Peter that he was not alone in self-doubt and somehow that made it seem a little less hopeless. At least he wasn’t doing this alone. 

“Nap time?” He said wearily to Wade. He nodded, equally worn out, and they slowly hauled the kids (still kicking and screaming) back to Ellie’s house.

\--

It took nearly half an hour for Ellie to cry herself out. She immediately fell asleep on her grandmother’s couch as soon as she was able to stop screaming and Peter was immensely grateful for it. 

Riley took nearly as long to settle. He kicked and flailed so badly in his distress that he could not stay still long enough even to nurse. It took handing him off to Wade, who walked in endless circles bouncing the screaming baby all the while, for Riley to calm enough to accept the offer of food. 

Peter nearly fell asleep himself when both children were finally quiet again. His eyelids kept drooping dangerously, even though he’d gotten adequate enough sleep. He still had no idea what to do about the whole situation, but the sound of Ellie’s soft snores as she slept off her temper tantrum and of Riley’s occasional little whines as he nursed and of Wade’s quiet movements as he searched the kitchen for anything edible - the sounds of his family safe nearby were enough to keep him from outright panic. 

“Nothing left to eat,” Wade whispered as he returned from his search. He moved carefully so as not to wake Ellie. 

“That’s weird.” Peter said. “Is that weird?”

“I dunno,” Wade admitted with a little sigh. “If she left on purpose, she could have planned to take everything with her, which wouldn’t be weird. But if she left unexpectedly and the door was unlocked then it could have been scavengers.”

Peter didn’t know which option was worse; both sort of implied that something had driven Ellie’s grandmother from her home.

“Do you think she’s coming back?” Peter asked. 

“I don’t know,” Wade said again, frowning. “I don’t really think so… everything’s super dusty. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a while. The neighbor’s house was the same.”

Out of all the scenarios Peter had constructed for himself while he was dreading finally reaching Ellie’s house, this was not one of them: there was no dead grandmother, nor a happy one relieved to see her grandchild again, or even a senile grandmother - just a missing one. Peter didn’t know what the right thing to do was. 

Usually he could force himself to take a step back and ask himself what the best course of action was, what would hurt the least people or help the most people, but this wasn’t so straightforward. The ‘right’ thing to do was reunite Ellie’s family. But where was Ellie’s family? Did she still have one? Was it  _ safe _ for them to even search for the grandmother? The obvious choice seemed to be to try to discover what happened to her, but what if they were too late and the old woman had already died? What if they walked into danger again?

Everything that had happened in the Weapon X facility was still too recent and too terrifying. He couldn’t put Riley or Wade or himself through something like that  _ again _ and he wouldn’t let it happen to Ellie in the first place either. If the grandmother’s mobility really was as limited as Ellie implied, then circumstances must have been drastic to drive her from her home - whether it was willing or not. 

Peter didn’t think he could justify walking Ellie and Riley into potential danger, even for the sake of trying to find the grandmother. 

“Is this wrong?” Peter whispered after a long pause. “Am I being cowardly? Am I just making up reasons for us to keep her?”

Wade leaned his forehead against Peter’s with a long sigh. 

“I don't know,” he said yet again. “But if you are, then I am too.”

\---

Ellie was calmer after she’d slept and eaten. Peter could tell that she was still anxious, but he knew there was little they could do to reassure her. They had no more answers than she did. 

Now, at least, she allowed herself to be distracted. Upon request, Ellie was happy to show them her old room. It was small, but she proudly showed them all of her belongings: her bed, her clothes, her few toys, though she said some of the pictures she’d drawn were missing from their spots on the wall. 

Her grandmother’s room was barren in comparison. All of her clothes and personal belongings were gone and the bed had been stripped down to its mattress. The bathroom and kitchen were similarly empty: no soaps, no pots or pans, and certainly no food. The water for the house was still running, however, and when Peter turned on the tap, it came out clear, which was a relief. They could stop to gather food from elsewhere if they had a reliable source of water.

Nearly as exciting as potable water, was the attic. While most of the house had been stripped of everyday items, the storage space in the attic had been largely untouched. Ellie wasn’t sure what had been stored there (nothing of objective value, Peter suspected), but he carefully pawed through the boxes anyway. 

They came away triumphant after discovering most of Ellie’s old clothes that she had outgrown. There wasn’t much (Peter was sure most of it had been cut up to make patches for other clothes or torn into rags for household work) but there were  _ some _ . Riley had never been properly clothed before. There seemed little point with the weather so hot and the baby constantly soiling himself, but that wouldn’t be the case forever. And Ellie seemed excited about the idea of playing dress up with Riley. 

They hauled as many of the clothes downstairs with them as they could and set up shop in the bathroom together. 

Wade took over the children, carefully scrubbing them clean of the road’s dust and grime and rinsing Ellie’s curls into loose ringlets. Peter gathered the children’s discarded clothes, his new finds from the attic and, after a moment’s contemplation, his and Wade’s clothes as well. There hadn’t been an opportunity to do laundry since they’d left Natasha’s house. The closest they’d come was dipping into the river with their clothes still on, but it wasn’t the same. 

Ellie and Riley were still young enough that Peter didn’t think much of their collective nudity and soon the house was strung up with a maze of damp and drying clothes and scatterings of wet footprints. 

Peter knew now that Wade really didn’t think the grandmother was coming back. He would never have let them all lounge around so exposed if he expected anyone to come in at any moment. Instead, Wade barricaded the doors with the abandoned furniture, made sure all the curtains were drawn, and then chased Ellie around the house until she shrieked with delight. 

Their packs still held enough food for the night and they passed the evening peacefully indoors. Trouble only began to brew as night fell.

Ellie did not object to being tucked into her own bed when she was able to curl up to Wade’s side while he began the elaborate ritual of songs that were Riley’s bedtime routine. Peter watched from the end of the bed as the pair entertained themselves until Ellie’s head began to droop from exhaustion and Riley had dropped off entirely. Once both children were asleep, Wade carefully extracted himself and they retired to the grandmother’s room. The bed had been stripped, of course, but the mattress was large enough for both of them and it was more comfortable than the floor. 

Peter knew he should sleep. He only had a few hours (if he was lucky) before Riley woke and demanded feeding, and he was certainly tired enough that it shouldn’t have been an issue, but the problem of what to do next still weighed on Peter too heavily to let him rest. 

“Wade,” he finally whispered. It was too dark for Peter to see if Wade’s eyes were open, but his answering hum came so fast that Peter suspected his mate had been awake already. “I don’t think… I can’t…”

Wade stroked a hand over Peter’s side as he tried to articulate himself.

“I can’t keep searching,” He said. Shame welled in his chest at the admission, even though Wade had done nothing to indicate an opinion for or against the statement. “I can’t- I can’t risk anyone getting their hands on Riley again, I  _ can’t _ . I can’t do it again.”

“I know,” Wade said softly. “Me neither.”

Wade had agreed with him, but Peter couldn’t suppress the need to defend himself. “I just- I need somewhere they’ll be safe. I just need them to be safe. I know we should keep looking, I know Ellie deserves to see her family, but I can’t, Wade, I can’t- if anything else happened--”

Peter knew he was working himself into a panic, but the guilt of failing to reunite Ellie and her grandmother clashed too badly with his own fears of everything that could go wrong. It wasn’t just theoretical anymore. He knew first hand what dangers could befall them if they kept searching. 

“Hey, it’s ok,” Wade whispered, squeezing his shoulder. “Nothing’s gonna happen. No one’s gonna touch us ever again. Not you, or Riley, or Ellie. I won’t let them.”

“Not you either,” Peter added. He hadn’t been able to thank Wade for coming back for them. It was the second time Wade had been down there in that dungeon of a lab, and Peter didn’t know how his mate had done it. Peter felt like he would fall apart at just the idea of going back, let alone actually doing it. He’d still do it for Wade or Riley or Ellie, of course, but the thought of being able to summon the courage to do so was still unimaginable. 

Wade didn’t answer and Peter reached for his arm, squeezing determinedly. 

“ _ Not you either. _ ” Peter said again, a little more fiercely this time. Wade sighed.

“None of us.” He agreed, though Peter could tell he was just saying it. As a father, Peter loved this about Wade - his willingness to sacrifice for their children. As his mate, Peter couldn’t stand how disposable Wade considered himself. Maybe they could work on it someday, when survival was no longer their biggest concern. 

Peter rolled a little closer to Wade so he could press his face to his neck. He gave himself a minute of this: the comfort of Wade’s scent and Wade’s arms around him and the sound of Riley breathing slowly and evenly nearby. Then he forced himself to speak again.

“And Ellie?” He asked quietly. “I feel like I failed her.”

Wade didn’t answer immediately. When he did, he sounded so scared and hopeful that Peter couldn’t help wrap himself around him as tightly as he could without jostling Riley too badly.

“Do you think… Can we?” Wade murmured. 

“I want to. I really want to. Should we? Is it right? Are we being selfish?”

“I don’t see what else we could do. I’m not leaving her.”

“Neither am I.” Peter said quickly. “I think… if that’s still what she wants…”

“We can ask in the morning.”


	13. Ellie: Part 2

It was barely dawn when Ellie woke. 

Peter and Wade were already up, courtesy of Riley, and Peter was dozing on his mate’s shoulder while Riley nursed when the shriek shattered the morning quiet. They were alert in an instant, Wade rolling out of bed as Riley began to cry. The Alpha hadn’t even made it to the door, however, when it was flung open.

Ellie stood in the doorway, bawling. 

For a moment, she just stood there, staring at them, before she threw herself at Wade’s legs. Wade scooped her up in a flash, carrying her back to bed while Peter attempted to quiet the baby.

“Hey, shhh, it’s ok,” Wade crooned. “What’s the matter, baby girl, what’s wrong?”

Wade tried to set her in between him and Peter on the bed, but the little girl clung to him like a barnacle. She wailed something incomprehensible and hid her face in Wade’s shoulder. Wade exchanged confused glances with Peter. Peter carefully settled Riley against his chest with one arm and used his free hand to stroke Ellie’s hair. 

“Are you ok?” He asked. “Are you hurt?”

Ellie shook her head, still too upset to say anything understandable, but this at least loosened the knot of panic in Peter’s chest. 

It took long minutes to coax her to calm down enough to say anything and when she did speak, her words came out in gasps punctuated by pauses as she fought not to keep crying. 

“I woke up-- and you weren’ there!' She cried, “I thought you left! Like we left Miles an’ Gwen!”

“Oh, Ellie,” Peter murmured, his heart clenching painfully. Wade looked like he might like to cry himself at the thought of it. Peter could see now that he held onto the little girl almost as tight as she clung to him. “We wouldn't leave you behind.”

“But we left Miles and Gwen!” Ellie wailed.

“That was different, we left them at their parents’ house.” Peter said as calmly as he could.

“I’m at gramma’s house though! I don’ want you to leave me here.” Ellie buried her face in Wade’s shoulder again and Peter finally thought he might understand her logic. “Please don’t leave me here. I’ll be good. I’ll be so good, I promise!”

“There is  _ nothing _ you could do that would  _ make _ us leave you behind,” Wade said fiercely. He peeled Ellie away from his chest and cupped her face in his hands, tilting her head up to look at him. “You could be very bad- you could do the worst thing you can think of and we would  _ still _ love you, ok?”

“The  _ worst? _ ” Ellie looked scandalized.

“The worst.” Wade repeated. “There is nothing you can do that would make us love you any less. Do you understand?”

Ellie stared, too young to think to mask the emotions as they flew across her face: confusion, and mistrust, and so,  _ so _ much hope. Slowly she nodded, loosening her grip ever so slightly on Wade’s shirt. She leaned into Wade’s shoulder, letting him stroke her back while the four of them slowly calmed. 

“What about Gramma?” Ellie asked after a long pause. 

Peter caught Wade’s eye instantly. He was a little surprised to find  _ anxiety _ in Wade’s face, though it should have been expected. So much was riding on this conversation. For all of them. 

“Do you know where she might have gone?” Wade asked instead of answering directly, even though they’d already asked Ellie the day before. Of course, she shook her head. 

“She doesn’t go anywhere. Only the back porch sometimes.” Ellie repeated.

“We don’t know where she might be either,” Wade admitted. “And we don’t know when she might be back.”

_ If she ever comes back _ , Peter added silently. Ellie seemed to consider this, slowly beginning to frown as it began to dawn on her that she might not see her grandmother again. 

“But, you said you won’t leave me here,” Ellie said again, looking up again just to make sure.

“No, we aren’t going to leave you alone, Ellie,” Peter said firmly. “Not ever.”

“Does that mean you’re staying here?” Ellie tilted her head in confusion. Peter looked to Wade, but found that his Alpha looked half frozen with nerves. It would have been funny if it weren’t so heartbreaking to see how much it would crush Wade if Ellie said she no longer wanted to be part of their family.

“We said we were going to bring everyone back to their families,” Peter said slowly. “That means us too. We need to go find the rest of our family, so we can’t really stay here.”

Peter saw the panic flash across Ellie’s face momentarily before she pulled herself upright to stand on the bed between them, balancing herself with a hand on Wade’s shoulder. Her other hand went to her hip and she puffed up her chest as she looked between them seriously. 

“Are you going to bring me with you?” She demanded. “You said you wouldn’t leave me!”

Wade caught Ellie around the waist, pulling her back onto his lap so that she didn’t fall on either of them.

“Yes.” Peter told her. “If you’d still like to come with us.”

“Would you like to be part of our family, Ellie?” Wade asked. Ellie probably wouldn’t hear it, but Peter caught the way Wade’s voice was tight in his throat. 

“A real part?” Ellie asked, peering up at Wade.

“Yes.”

Ellie’s eyes lit up and began bouncing in place. Peter stifled a laugh at the way Wade winced at the child crushing his thighs without any movement to stop her.

“Would you be my daddy?” She grinned.

“Yeah, if that’s what you want.”

“And Riley? Would Riley be my baby brother?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“A really really real family-family?”

“Yes.”

Ellie gave an absolute shriek of delight, so shrill that Peter thought Riley would start crying again for sure. He was actually quite shocked that the baby stayed quiet, watching with round eyes as Ellie leapt off Wade’s lap to bounce enthusiastically on the end of the bed.

“Yes!” She cried. “Yes! Yes! Yes! I’m gonna be the best big sister! Just you wait!”

Ellie dropped back to her knees just as quickly, crawling over to Riley where she took both his little hands in hers and swung them back and forth. 

“Baby Riley! I’m gonna be your big sister now! What do you think?”

From the way Ellie was all but screaming in the baby’s face, Peter expected the answer to be a flood of tears. Instead, Riley stared at her for a long time while Ellie continued to swing their hands back and forth.

“Ah!”

It wasn’t a real word. It wasn’t the babble that Riley usually did once upon a time. But it wasn’t a scream and it wasn’t a wail. 

“He talked!” Ellie screeched. “Peter, Peter, did you hear? He talked!”

“Of course, he did,” Peter said thickly, blinking hard to keep himself in check. “He had to say hello to his big sister.”

\---

The rest of the morning was a blur of emotion. Wade cried almost as hard as he had when Riley was born and it took some time to explain to Ellie that someone could cry because they were  _ happy _ rather than sad. 

Mostly what Peter would remember was the way they had all piled together on that mattress, the way Wade somehow managed to get his arms around all of them at once, how much tension had fled his body now that  _ this _ , at least, wasn’t something he had to worry about. He would get to keep his family. All of it. 

He couldn’t wait to introduce them to May.

As idyllic as the scene was, it could not really stay picture perfect, not with two young children. Before long, Riley was whining to have his diaper changed and Wade lifted the baby off Peter’s chest to tend to him. Ellie announced that she was apparently  _ starving _ , but when Peter rose to rummage through their packs for their rations, she whined about the food being gross. Never mind that she’d eaten it yesterday without complaint,  _ now _ she had decided that it was impossible to stomach.

Peter shook his head in affectionate disbelief. She was lucky Peter was still so damned  _ happy _ or he would have been far less patient with picky eating. With the promise to send Wade out in search of more food, Ellie agreed to nibble the tiniest bit of a protein bar while she waited. 

Wade was reluctant to go when Peter finally relayed the request, but he sighed and nodded nonetheless. They needed to restock, especially since they knew that Ellie would be coming with them on the final trek to May’s house. He left Peter with his gun in exchange for Peter’s promise of  _ utmost caution _ . Wade needn’t have asked. Both of them were still hyper aware of what they risked by separating. 

As soon as Wade was gone, however, the peacefulness of the morning dissolved. If he hadn’t known better, Peter would have sworn that Ellie and Riley somehow coordinated with each other to flip their lids at the exact same time. For reasons beyond Peter, Riley was  _ wailing _ again. The baby was fed and cleaned and burped, so Peter couldn’t think of what would have the little cub worked up so badly. At the same time, Ellie was suddenly a wild child, racing around the room and jumping on furniture. 

Peter might have been able to deal with that, except that she screamed all the while as she did it. At least they didn’t seem to be distressed screams, but the noise was upsetting Riley further and Ellie only grew more annoyed when Peter was not able to give her the attention she sought.

“I’m  _ bored _ !” She cried. “I’m hungry an’ I’m  _ bored! _ I wanna go outside! Peter, let’s go outside! I miss the sunshine!”

“Not right now, Ellie,” Peter tried to tell her again and again, but ‘later’ was a difficult concept for a five-year-old.

“Peter!” She whined.

“Just, not outside, Ellie,” He finally snapped. Nothing he was doing seemed to calm Riley in the least and he didn’t have the ability to divide his attention much more than it already was. “You can go wherever you want, just stay inside.”

When Ellie ran off to explore the house on her own, Peter was initially relieved.

It took Peter another twenty minutes to get Riley to quiet down, and he still had no idea what had upset him so badly in the first place. It wasn’t even that Peter had solved anything, either. Riley had just worn himself out enough to fall back asleep. Nerves still plagued him as Peter carefully tied the baby to his back. He should be able to figure out what was wrong with his own kid. Was he doing something wrong that he couldn’t figure it out? Was it his fault that Riley was upset in the first place?

Peter didn’t know. He wished, not for the first time, that he had Rio or May or even Doctor Strange to turn to for advice. Perhaps, if he was lucky, they would have May soon.

It was only when Riley had been quiet for several minutes that Peter recognized the sound he was hearing in his absence:  _ Ellie _ crying.

For a moment, frustration threatened to swamp Peter. He had just finished dealing with one crying child. Did he have the patience to deal with another? Truthfully, he didn’t really have the patience, not until the guilt came flooding in to sweep the frustration away. Ellie was a  _ child _ . She was crying  _ alone _ . Peter hadn’t even noticed for at least a few minutes. Peter’s stomach twisted in shame and he rose to his feet.

The house wasn’t very large. It was easy to follow the sound to the living room where Peter found Ellie draped over the seat of a wooden rocking chair. She knelt in front of it, face buried in her arms on the seat of the chair, her little shoulders shaking. Peter hesitated by the door.

“Ellie?” He called softly, “Are you crying?”

“No,” Ellie sniffled. Peter entered the room, dropping to a crouch next to the little girl.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m not.” She said stubbornly, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. Peter watched her for a moment, then sighed.

“It’s alright to cry, you know,” He said. 

“No, it’s not!” Ellie shook her head fiercely, looking at Peter for the first time since he’d entered. “It’s not! Because then Wade will think I don’t want him to be my dad!”

Peter could only blink at her for several seconds, mystified by the leap in logic. 

“Wade isn’t going to think that,” Peter said finally, tentatively reaching to place a hand on Ellie’s back. “Why would he think that?”

“Because-” Ellie’s chin began to tremble again. “Because… I miss gramma.”

And just like that, Ellie began to cry again. This time, however, she planted her face firmly in Peter’s lap, hugging his leg as she wept. Peter winced, waiting for Riley to wake from the noise, but the baby stayed miraculously quiet. 

“Shh,” he said softly, half to comfort, half to keep her quiet. Peter ran a hand along her back. “It’s ok.”

“I wanna be your family though!” Ellie protested. “I wanna be your family but I miss abuela. I- I don’t know what happened to her! I didn’t think I’d never get to see her again!”

Peter wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that. He hadn’t thought so either, and he had no idea what had happened to the old woman. He couldn’t offer promises that she was probably fine, because he just didn’t know. She could be. There was no evidence of violence. But there was no evidence that she was alright either. Peter took a different approach.

“It’s ok to miss her,” He said. “You can miss her and still want to be part of our family. You can feel more than one thing at a time.”

“What do you mean?” Ellie looked up at him suspiciously, her confusion temporarily stopping her tears.

“I mean…” God, feelings were hard enough when he wasn’t trying to explain them to a five-year-old. Peter chewed his lips. “Ok, so you know how sometimes you want to go to sleep but Riley is crying and keeping you awake?”

“Yeah,”

“It makes you mad, right?” Peter prompted.

“Yes,” Ellie admitted a little guiltily. Peter almost sidetracked to assure her that it was fine to be annoyed with it. Riley was _his own_ _baby_ and Peter still felt like shouting sometimes.

“But you still love him.” Peter said instead. “You can be angry that he is keeping you awake and still love him because he is your baby brother. You can feel both feelings at the same time. It’s like that.”

Ellie paused to consider the idea. She was frowning when she looked up at Peter. “Can you tell me about my two feelings?”

“Sure,” Peter said uncertainly. “It seems like… It seems like you are sad about not seeing your grandma. And also happy about Wade being your dad. It sounds like you’re happy and sad at the same time. Is that right?”

Ellie looked at him with wide eyes, as though Peter had just revealed some great mystery to her. She nodded slowly.

“Can you feel more than two feelings?”

“Unfortunately, there is no limit to how many feelings you can feel.” Peter sighed heavily. If only. Life would be a lot simpler if people were limited to only one or two emotions at a time. Ellie laid her cheek against Peter’s leg with a little sigh of her own.

“I’m scared too.” She said. “I’m happy and I’m sad and I’m scared.”

“That’s a lot of things to feel all at once.”

“Mhmm.” Ellie nodded. 

“It can be pretty overwhelming, huh?” 

Ellie nodded again. She was quiet for another minute before she began to cry again. This time, however, Peter said nothing. He just sat and stroked her back until she slowly cried herself out. 

When Wade finally returned, Peter was so drained it was all he could do not to weep with relief. Instead he quickly handed Riley over to his Alpha and sprawled out over the length of the sofa.

“Daddy!” Ellie shrieked and it was actually sort of worth the exhaustion to see the way Wade’s face lit up at the word. Ellie threw herself at Wade’s legs, hugging him around the knees as he struggled to settle Riley in his arms.

“Hey, baby girl!” Wade grinned. “What’d you guys do while I was gone?”

“Peter told me about my feelings. I’m having three right now.” Ellie told him. Joy was easily the most dominant of those feelings at the moment.  _ Typical _ , Peter thought wryly,  _ of course, she’s her sweet cheerful self when  _ **_Wade_ ** _ is around to see it. _

Perhaps one day it would irk him, but for now, Peter was just glad the girl wasn’t crying anymore, regardless of why. 

“Three, huh? That seems like a lot.” Wade said.

“Mmhmm.” Ellie agreed without expanding further. “What’d you bring us?”

Here, Wade hissed through his teeth. Peter could see the way his shoulders drooped minutely. 

“It was pretty slim pickings, Ellie-Bellie,” Wade admitted a little sheepishly. 

On the living room rug, Wade emptied out his pack to show what he’d found: another blanket, a bar of soap, and a bag of dried beans. The packaging was ripped on this, so Peter knew a good portion of the afternoon was going to be spent sifting through it to make sure it was free of any bugs or rot. The thought made him feel tired all over again, but none of that seemed to occur to Ellie, who was positively delighted by the treasure. 

She ran her hands over the blanket, cooing over how soft it was, and held the soap to her nose to enjoy the faint fragrance still lingering on it.

“Oh, wait, I found these for you too,” Wade said quickly. He dug in his pockets for a moment before producing about five colorful little beads and dropping them one by one into Ellie’s open palm.

“Pretty!” She cried, rolling them between her fingers. 

“Do  _ not _ put those up your nose, Ellie,” Peter warned. “They  _ will _ get stuck and then you’ll have to breathe through a bead for weeks until we can find the stuff to get it back out.”

Ellie stuck out her tongue at him, but did not contradict and Peter just rolled his eyes. So this was how it was gonna be.

Later, when both children had conceded to a nap and Peter was carefully picking through the beans, Wade sat heavily beside him at the kitchen table. He leaned against Peter’s shoulder and Peter put aside the beans to turn his attention to his mate. He could smell the melancholy hanging around him.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find more.” Wade said quietly.

“That’s fine, Wade, this is enough.”

“It’s not though, I know it isn’t. You guys were counting on me.”

“We’re  _ still _ counting on you. Your worth as an Alpha doesn’t ride on one little grocery trip.” Peter tried to assure him.

He thought this was probably the heart of the matter. He knew they both still struggled against the societal expectations of them, especially Wade and the idea that he had to be a typical bread-winning, bacon-bringing Alpha to be worthwhile. But, to Peter, Wade being able to calm the kids after a morning like the one they’d had was worth at least five loaves of bread. 

Wade didn’t immediately respond, clearly still dwelling on his own self-doubt. 

“I mean… Wade,” Peter sighed. “I don’t need you to be a perfect Alpha. I never have. You know this.”

“I know.”

“And it would  _ suck _ if you were, because I’m not a perfect Omega! Everything fell to pieces this morning as soon as you left. I couldn’t get the kids to stop crying until just before you came back.”

“Really?” Wade raised a brow.

“Yes, really! I thought I was gonna end up screaming at them if you didn’t come home soon,” Peter admitted guiltily. Not exactly patient, nurturing Omega behavior. 

“But they seemed so happy when I got back.”

“Yeah, because they were happy to see  _ you _ , not because of anything  _ I  _ did,” Peter sighed. “I mean, I’m not- I’m not really ready for Riley to be weaned yet, but when he is, we should probably experiment with how to do this whole division of labor thing better. I dunno. We could try trading off jobs or something.”

“Or we could get May to help,” Wade said. And that made Peter smile. He loved this about Wade, this piece of him that was some combination of blind faith, optimism, and determination. Peter felt like he rarely got to see it anymore, but he loved Wade’s unshakable belief that they  _ would _ make it to May’s and that she  _ would _ be there and everything  _ would  _ be ok.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “I’m sure she’ll have loads of ideas.”

Satisfied that Wade wasn’t about to fall into pits of despair, Peter started to turn back to his task when he thought of something else.

“You know, it’s just as well you didn’t find a lot.” He said. “We need to go soon anyway. If you’d found a lot we might not have been able to bring it all with us.”

“Eager to leave, are we?” Wade smiled at him softly.

“Oh, like you can’t wait to see May again.”

Wade chuckled, leaning back in his chair. The mirth slowly faded from his face, leaving something unusually pensive in its wake. 

“I wonder if she’ll even recognize us.” He said after a moment. “Everything is so different now.”

It was true. Peter had been  _ seventeen _ when they left her house. In the last four years, their family had  _ doubled _ in size. Wade and Riley, and probably Peter too (though he was loath to consider it) had strange abilities now. All of them had come away damaged, in some cases more visibly than others. May wouldn’t recognize the kids. She’d never met them. She didn’t know they even existed. She might not recognize Wade even, scarred and hairless as he now was. 

Peter wondered if she would recognize him. Peter guessed she would. He hadn’t changed so much, had he? Truthfully, Peter didn’t know. There hadn’t been much time to contemplate his appearance in the last few years. Perhaps the weight of everything that had happened  _ had _ changed him. 

Peter had been so excited at the prospect of seeing May again that he hadn’t considered how intimidating a reunion was. What would she think of Wade’s new appearance? Of their uncanny abilities? Even of the fact that they’d had kids so young? It was hard to keep the anxiety from swelling. 

“She’s not so shallow as that,” Peter said quietly, as much to himself as to Wade. “Even it takes her a minute to recognize us… I’m sure she’ll be glad even just to know that we’re alive.”

And that was a whole other pit of guilt in Peter’s stomach. Leaving her had been hard. It had only been at the promises of all his friends in the area to look after her that Peter had agreed to go at all, even though staying would have meant risking all their lives. He was her only family and he had left her alone. And in all these years, he’d never been able to find a way to send a message to her that he was safe. She could think they were dead, for all he knew. 

“She knows,” Wade said with more confidence than Peter felt. “She believes in you, Pete.”

“And in you.” Peter added stubbornly. Wade neither agreed nor disagreed and instead began to crack a slow mischievous grin.

“I can’t wait to see her face when she sees Riley.”

\---

** Epilogue: **

“Peter?”

“Mm?” Peter wasn’t paying the closest attention. He knew the landscape now, he knew where they were. He knew they were less than a day’s walk from May’s house and the thought completely preoccupied him. 

It preoccupied him so much, in fact, that he hadn’t thought anything of the switch in he and Wade’s usual roles. Generally, Peter carried Riley and Wade handled Ellie. This particular morning, however, Wade had taken Riley and he was hanging back more than usual. 

Ellie kicked a pebble and watched it bounce along the ground for a few feet. When they came close enough, she kicked it again.

“Are you mad at me?” She asked. That startled Peter enough to look over at the little girl. She wasn’t meeting his eyes, focusing instead on the pebble she kept kicking.

“Why would I be mad at you?” He asked, utterly bewildered. Ellie shrugged.

“Cuz I call Wade ‘Dad’ but I call you ‘Peter,’” she said.

“Why would I be mad about that?” Peter asked again. The question really shouldn’t have taken him by surprise, but he’d been preoccupied.

“I dunno,” Ellie said, but he could see the tension in her little shoulders, defensive. 

“I’m not mad about that, Ellie,” Peter told her honestly.

“Do you wish that I called you ‘dad’?” She asked. What Peter _ wished  _ was that Wade would stop being so polite about giving them privacy and catch up. Peter didn’t know how candid he should be with Ellie. Moreover, he didn’t want to upset her, however he answered. Wade was better at this sort of thing. Especially with Ellie.

“I don’t mind that you call me ‘Peter,’” he said slowly, trying to gauge her reaction as he spoke. It was impossible. “But I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to call me ‘dad,’ I guess… do you  _ want _ to call me that?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “ _ Wade _ is my dad. You’re my… Peter.”

Peter didn’t want to say as much, but privately he was relieved. He loved Ellie and he didn’t regret adopting her into the family, but it was true that he didn’t feel like her father exactly. It reminded him a little of how he’d never wanted to call May ‘mom’, no matter how much he loved her and she filled that role. It wasn't as though he loved _her_ any less for calling her 'May.'

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Peter told her. Finally, Ellie looked up at him, her big brown eyes searching to see if he was lying. “It’s ok to have different relationships with different people. I know you’ve got a special connection with Wade. He loves being your dad. I’m really glad you found each other.”

“Really?” Ellie eyed him suspiciously. She was getting uncomfortably canny for a five-year-old. 

“Really.” Peter assured her. “I’m happy you like having Wade as your dad and I’m honored that you let me be your Peter.”

Ellie looked away. She didn’t embarrass easily, but Peter thought that maybe she was now.

“Families come in all shapes and sizes,” Peter pressed on. He should probably quit while he was ahead, but he wasn’t used to interacting with kids who could  _ talk back. _ “I don’t have to be your dad to be your family and you don’t have to be my daughter to be our bestest favorite girl.”

At this, Ellie finally grinned. “Am I your Ellie?”

“You are my one and only Ellie,” Peter said with as much solemnity as he could muster. The ploy worked and the little girl cackled in delight, much to Peter's relief. 

Ellie returned to kicking her pebble along the ground as they walked. Worry was creeping back into her shoulders, but Peter didn’t have to wait long to hear why.

“Do you think she’ll like me?” Ellie asked. Peter breathed an internal sigh of relief. This, at least, he felt absolutely sure of.

“She is going to  _ love _ you.” He said firmly. 

“But how do you know?” Ellie whined.

“Because  _ I _ love you. And I don’t see how anyone else couldn’t.” Peter told her. “Besides. I’m your Peter and I know everything. Didn’t Wade tell you?”

That, at least, got a giggle out of Ellie. She was still young enough to trust them blindly, but she was just old enough to realize that Peter couldn’t possibly know  _ everything _ . 

They continued that way until Ellie kicked her pebble too far off the path to pursue and then began to whine.

“My feet hurt! Carry me?”

Peter knelt dutifully while she clambered up his back and onto his shoulders. Truthfully, Peter was surprised by how easy it was to carry her, but he grunted dramatically as he stood again anyway.

“You’re a  _ lot _ heavier than Riley, you know that?”

“Yeah! Riley is just a baby. I’m not a baby!” Ellie said burying her hands in his hair.

Finally, Wade decided to stop giving them a polite distance and trotted up so they could walk side by side again.

“We’re getting close,” Wade said. Peter nodded. Perhaps it had been good to have Ellie to distract him. The closer they got, the more Peter felt like his bones were trembling with anticipation. No matter what he and Wade had said to comfort themselves, Peter was still nervous to see May again. Nervous, and  _ desperately _ excited.

“I think it’s just…” Peter trailed off as they crested a small ridge.

“Is that it? Are we there?” Ellie asked.

It was all just how Peter remembered it: the house with its dust-stained shingles, the little fields with their scraggly handful of crops, the shed, the bench, the little copse of dry woods… it was all still there. There was even a clothes line strung across the porch, drying linens fluttering gently in the breeze. It was here. It was safe.  _ They _ were here and safe. 

“Yeah,” Peter said, breath catching in his throat. “We made it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for this one, folks! Hopefully it's a satisfying enough ending while still leaving me some wiggle room to expand if I ever get around to it. I have a couple ideas for possible continuations, but lemme know if there's anything you're dying to see happen.
> 
> Keep an eye out for the prequel! I'm hoping to have it out this summer, but I just started looking over the draft again and oof it needs some WORK. Then again, even working from home, there's an awful lot of time in quarantine...

**Author's Note:**

> FIC COMPLETED - Update schedule TBD
> 
> Thank you so much for all your patience. I had this mostly complete months ago, but then I moved and then my office moved and then the US fell apart (even more than usual)...


End file.
